Materials and Waste

These unregulated, potentially dangerous chemicals are probably already in your bloodstream

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These unregulated, potentially dangerous chemicals are probably already in your bloodstream

A PFAS molecule consists of a chain of carbons with fluorine atoms attached, with some additional specialized atom group thrown in for flavor, called functional groups. There are many iterations of this structure, but they all fall under the PFASs family umbrella because they heavily rely on the carbon-fluorine (C-F) bond.

The C-F bond is one of the strongest bonds in chemistry, and it renders powerless an arsenal of chemical and environmental mechanisms that degrade other pollutants. The basic PFAS structure is so stable that many degradable versions of PFASs, with fewer C-F bonds, get together in the environment to re-form structures with more C-F bonds, making them more stable — and much more toxic. It’s like the chemical equivalent of Gremlins, as “friendly” molecules turn ugly under the right conditions.

This characteristic structure also makes PFASs two-faced: The carbon chain doesn’t like to associate with water, but various functional groups are quite chummy with it. This means that PFASs are both water and oil repellant, an extremely valuable quality that has made them extremely popular in consumer, industrial, and military applications.

Hans Sloane, the British Museum, and an Asbestos Purse – Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture – Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture

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The Curious World of Benjamin Franklin: Hans Sloane, the British Museum, and an Asbestos Purse – Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture – Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture

There is an object in the British Museum that was bought from Benjamin Franklin. A small asbestos “purse.” With only these details, the modern mind imagines the elder statesman ambling up to Montague House, the museum’s home in Bloomsbury from 1759, on the same site as the modern museum. Perhaps the most well known American in the world, the Franklin in our imagination gains entry to the museum and marvels at the collections before offering up a curiosity of his own. In reality, it was a much younger Franklin who was invited to the home of Sir Hans Sloane in 1725 – almost thirty years before George II gave his Royal Assent to establish a public museum founded in large part on Sloane’s collections.

What “Dark Waters” gets right about the DuPont/PFAS water pollution case

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What “Dark Waters” gets right about the DuPont/PFAS water pollution case

Today, we know the scope of contamination extends well beyond Parkersburg, West Virginia. PFOA and other PFAS remain in the blood of U.S. citizens and people around the globe, with no clear regulatory or remediation path in sight. PFAS remain unregulated at a federal level in the U.S. Chemical companies continue to churn out analogues of PFOA and other PFAS for use in consumer and industrial applications.

I keep reading more and more about PFAS and C8

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I keep reading more and more about PFAS and C8 …☠

While there may be some industrial areas are that extremely polluted, it seems like the chemical is everywhere, from out waterways to our air. It leaks out ordinary MSW landfills as leachate, it comes down in rain from industrial emissions. It’s used in so many chemical processes, it puts out fires. Welcome to world of modern chemistry. ⚗️