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PFAS: HISTORY AND CONTAMINATION

    If you follow us on Instagram, you have surely seen that the issue we want to address this year, as the 2024 team, is PFAS. But what are these PFAS? 

    The word PFAS is an acronym for “perfluoroalkyl substances,” organic acids with at least one carbon-fluorine bond. The chemical structure and the nature of the bonds allow for strong stability both at high temperatures and during degradation processes. The PFAS family includes various classes of compounds; according to the OECD, there are at least 4730 types! Among the most famous are PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid) and PFOS (perfluorooctanesulfonic acid). 

    chemical structure of PFOS and PFOA

    But then, what are they used for and why were they invented? PFAS are chemical compounds used in the industrial field, given their ability to make products waterproof to water and fats. 

    The first “invented” PFAS was polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), which was actually discovered accidentally in 1938 by Roy Plunkett while working for DuPont: during an attempt to manufacture a new chlorofluorocarbon to be used as a refrigerant for compression cycles, PTFE was unexpectedly obtained, described as “extremely heat-resistant and non-stick.” Subsequently, Kinetic Chemicals patented the product in 1941, and registered the trade name “Teflon” in 1945. 

    This invention was a success: starting from the 1950s, various types of PFAS began to be produced worldwide, proving to be a revolutionary discovery for the industrial sector, so much so that they were (and still are) used for the production of many products. In Italy, among the companies that produce them, we find Miteni, founded in 1965 in Trissino, in the province of Vicenza (Veneto). Almost immediately, the company started creating PFAS used to waterproof fabrics for the Marzotto textile company, initially under the name RiMAr (Marzotto Research). 

    However, not everything was as perfect as it may have seemed initially. In 1998, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) became alarmed about the potential risks of PFAS, calling them “forever chemicals”: human-made compounds that “never break down once released and accumulate in our bodies.” In a study conducted the same year on mice, when pregnant females continued to receive regular doses of PFAS, most of the offspring died within four days. 

    Later, in 2002, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) conducted investigations in critical areas, discovering “groundwater contamination covering over 150 square miles, affecting the drinking water supplies of over 140,000 Minnesota residents. Samples were taken from over 2,600 private wells and 798 drinking water advisories were issued.” 

    It took years before action was taken in Europe. It was only in 2006 that the European PERFORCE Project was initiated by the University of Stockholm, with the aim of establishing the presence of perfluorinated compounds in the waters and sediments of the major European rivers. Only then it emerged that in Italy, the Po River has higher levels compared to those of other European rivers. 

    Despite this, many more years passed before the situation in Italy was further investigated. In 2011 (13 years after the first concerns of the EPA in America!), evidence of a potential risk situation led to a convention between the Ministry of the Environment and the Protection of the Territory and the Sea (MATTM) and the Water Research Institute (IRSA) of the National Research Council (CNR). A study on the environmental and health risk associated with PFAS contamination in the Po basin and in the main Italian river basins began. 

    For the study, water samples intended for human consumption were also taken from more than 30 municipalities in the province of Vicenza and in the surrounding areas of the provinces of Padua and Verona. The investigations highlighted widespread contamination of PFAS, at varying concentrations. 

    Why is the concentration higher in these areas? In 2013, the Veneto Regional Agency for Environmental Protection (ARPAV) discovered that the main source of pollution was the chemical company Miteni, which was attributed 97% of the pollution detected in the Veneto area because “the purification plants are not able to remove this type of substances, as they are not equipped with adequate technology.” 

    On May 28, 2014, the Free Water from PFAS Coordination (Legambiente plus twelve other associations) was established, beginning an awareness campaign, and two complaints against unknown persons were filed with the Public Prosecutors’ Offices of Vicenza and Verona. Meanwhile, activated carbon filters were applied to waterworks to prevent the entry of PFAS into citizens’ homes, with costs borne by citizens themselves. 

    But it was not enough. Concern now flares up and various local associations demand greater controls. Between July 2015 and April 2016, a sample biomonitoring was carried out on 257 subjects residing in the contaminated area and 250 subjects residing in Veneto municipalities not affected by water contamination for human consumption. It emerged that the concentration of PFOA in exposed subjects is significantly higher than in non-exposed ones. 

    Following this control, the area was mapped (map photo of colored zones), and in January 2017, the Health Surveillance Plan on the population began: the concentrations of the 12 best-known PFAS were searched for in blood. In addition, blood tests of renal, hepatic, metabolic, and thyroid functions were performed. Previous studies had revealed that exposure to these compounds could alter some organs’ function or metabolic functions. The study was painfully confirmed, as 60% of the subjects involved actually showed alterations caused by PFAS exposure. 

    Since the arrival of this terrible news, a strong psychological terror has begun to spread among the inhabitants of the areas highly polluted by PFAS, who felt trapped in the situation from within their own homes. We delved into this aspect with professors Zamperini and Menegatto of the FISSPA Department of the University of Padua, which we will cover in our next article. Among the various reactions, a group of mothers was created, united by concern for their children’s health in this new reality: they are the NoPFAS Mothers. By visiting their website (which we invite you to check for many insights), you can read “It all started in 2017 when we received the results of the analyses on the research of PFAS in the blood of our children, following the start of biomonitoring proposed by the Veneto Region: since then our life has literally changed.” 

    Today, the world is still trying to understand how to deal with these substances on different levels: for example, the creation of certain types of PFAS has been banned since February 2023 following a decision by the European Commission. Furthermore, filters have been installed on company discharges and in waterworks, and research groups around the world have been trying for years to understand how to degrade PFAS molecules. It is precisely in this last field that our team is trying to act, in order to solve a problem that, as seen, is of purely human origin and has been underestimated for many years.

    Author: Sabrina Salmaso, team Mutans

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