Highly Fluorinated Chemicals

Makes products stain resistant, waterproof, and non-stick. (1)

• Waterproof and wicking clothes
• Stain resistant carpets and fabrics
• Non-stick cookware
• Grease-proof food packaging
• Certain cosmetics (1)

• Issues with the immune system (2, 3, 4)
• Issues with the mammary gland - the mammary gland is responsible for lactation and breast development in females (5, 6, 7)
• Low birth weight (8, 9)
• Lower testosterone (10) 
• Issues with thyroid (12)

• Fluorinated chemicals can last a very long time in the environment. The typical lifespan of a highly fluorinated chemical is on the order of millennia, whereas other EDC's such as BPA are on the order of days. (1) 
• Fluorinated chemicals, also referred to as PFAS, are leading in the way in regulation. Several states have adopted policy that regulates PFAS contamination, most notably in drinking water. We should look to fluorinated chemicals as a model for how we can move forward. (11)

(1)  https://greensciencepolicy.org/highly-fluorinated-chemicals/ 

(2)  https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00204-009-0424-0 

(3)  https://ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1476-069X-12-35 

(4)  https://academic.oup.com/toxsci/article/89/1/93/1663593 

(5)  https://academic.oup.com/toxsci/article-abstract/122/1/134/1670175 

(6)  https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S089062381400313X 

(7)  https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/full/10.1289/ehp.1002741 

(8)  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31284113 

(9)  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28669937 

(10)  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4977043/ 

(11)  http://www.saferstates.com/toxic-chemicals/pfas/ 

(12)  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29746532