The precautionary principle and chemicals management: The example of perfluoroalkyl acids in groundwater
Abstract
Already in the late 1990s microgram-per-liter levels of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) were measured in water samples from areas where fire-fighting foams were used or spilled. Despite these early warnings, the problems of groundwater, and thus drinking water, contaminated with perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) including PFOS are only beginning to be addressed. It is clear that this PFAS contamination is poorly reversible and that the societal costs of clean-up will be high. This inability to reverse exposure in a reasonable timeframe is a major motivation for application of the precautionary principle in chemicals management. We conclude that exposure can be poorly reversible; 1) due to slow elimination kinetics in organisms, or 2) due to poorly reversible environmental contamination that leads to continuous exposure. In the second case, which is relevant for contaminated groundwater, the reversibility of exposure is not related to the magnitude of a chemical's bioaccumulation potential. We argue therefore that all PFASs entering groundwater, irrespective of their perfluoroalkyl chain length and bioaccumulation potential, will result in poorly reversible exposures and risks as well as further clean-up costs for society. To protect groundwater resources for future generations, society should consider a precautionary approach to chemicals management and prevent the use and release of highly persistent and mobile chemicals such as PFASs.
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Bioaccumulation is not a prerequisite for poorly reversible internal exposure to PFAAs.
“as concluded by Cousins et al. (2016),25 bioaccumulation is not a prerequisite for poorly reversible internal exposure to PFAAs.”
From A Never-Ending Story of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs)? (2017) · cites this paper as Cousins et al. (2016)25
The very high persistence of PFAAs leads to poorly reversible exposure to these substances in the global environment and some local/regional environments including groundwater.
“The very high persistence of PFAAs leads to poorly reversible exposure to these substances in the global environment and some local/regional environments including groundwater.25”
From A Never-Ending Story of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs)? (2017) · cites this paper as [25]
Most PFAS guideline values focus on PFOS, PFOA and PFHxS, with exceptions in some European countries such as Sweden, Germany and Denmark where more PFAS guidance is included.
“Most of the PFAS guideline values focus on PFOS, PFOA and PFHxS, with exceptions of some European countries i.e., Sweden German, and Denmark where more PFAS guidance is included ( Cousins et al. , 2016 ;Lilienthal et al. , 2017 ;Dauchy, 2019 ).”
From Release of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from a waste management facility fire to an urban creek (2022) · cites this paper as Cousins et al. , 2016
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- Authors
- Cousins, I. T., Vestergren, R., Wang, Z., Scheringer, M., & McLachlan, M. S.
- Affiliations
- Stockholm University (SE)
- ETH Zurich (CH)
- Masaryk University (CZ)
- Corresponding author
- Cousins, Ian T.
- Venue
- Environment International
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2016-09
- Volume
- 94
- Pages
- 331-340
- ISSN
- 0160-4120 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2464248487
- Cited by
- 225
- References
- 90
- Citations by year
- 2026: 12 · 2025: 27 · 2024: 33 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 28 · 2021: 25 · 2020: 29 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 19 · 2017: 16 · 2016: 4
- FWCI
- 1.54
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Environment International (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Czech Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports (LM2015051)
- Masaryk University
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances research
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Risk Perception and Management
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Toxic Organic Pollutants Impact
- Keywords
- precautionary principle, chemical management, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, PFOS, groundwater contamination, drinking water contamination, firefighting foam, bioaccumulation potential, remediation costs, environmental risk
- MeSH terms
- Environmental Exposure, Fluorocarbons, Humans, Water Pollutants, Chemical, Water Pollution, Alkanesulfonic Acids, Groundwater, Drinking Water
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