Cited by 754Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances researchSynthesis and properties of polymersToxic Organic Pollutants Impact

Scientific Basis for Managing PFAS as a Chemical Class

Open access
Kwiatkowski, Carol F., Andrews, David Q., Birnbaum, Linda S., Bruton, Thomas A., DeWitt, Jamie C., Knappe, Detlef R. U., Maffini, Maricel V., Miller, Mark F. +8 more·2020·Environmental Science & Technology Letters

Abstract

This commentary presents a scientific basis for managing as one chemical class the thousands of chemicals known as PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances). The class includes perfluoroalkyl acids, perfluoroalkylether acids, and their precursors; fluoropolymers and perfluoropolyethers; and other PFAS. The basis for the class approach is presented in relation to their physicochemical, environmental, and toxicological properties. Specifically, the high persistence, accumulation potential, and/or hazards (known and potential) of PFAS studied to date warrant treating all PFAS as a single class. Examples are provided of how some PFAS are being regulated and how some businesses are avoiding all PFAS in their products and purchasing decisions. We conclude with options for how governments and industry can apply the class-based approach, emphasizing the importance of eliminating non-essential uses of PFAS, and further developing safer alternatives and methods to remove existing PFAS from the environment.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1021/acs.estlett.0c00255

Cites

108 of 108 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • PFASs are extensively utilized in the medical technology sector due to properties including chemical and thermal stability, corrosion resistance, low surface energy, biocompatibility, low friction, and electrical insulation.

    “PFASs are extensively utilized in the medical technology sector due to their unique and highly desirable physicochemical properties.”

    From Exposure to Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs) in Healthcare: Environmental and Clinical Insights (2025) · cites this paper as [12]

    The Introduction says PFAS are used in medical procedures and products and describes useful properties such as low friction and water and oil repellency. It does not establish that their use in medical technology is extensive or identify most of the specific properties listed in the claim. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Current regulatory frameworks for PFASs are inconsistent and incomplete, particularly regarding cumulative exposure risks and long-term environmental impacts.

    “Furthermore, current regulatory frameworks are inconsistent and incomplete, particularly regarding cumulative exposure risks and long-term environmental impacts [12].”

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 15

  1. [14]U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Fourth National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals Updated Tables, 3 2018. Vol. 1.
  2. [78]New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services. Technical Background Report for the June 2019 Proposed Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) and Ambient Groundwater Quality Standards (AGQSs) for Perfluorooctane sulfonic Acid (PFOS), Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA), Perfluorononanoic Acid (PFNA), and Perfluorohexane sulfonic Acid (PFHxS) And Letter from Dr. Stephen M. Roberts, Ph.D. dated 6/25/2019. Findings of Peer Review Conducted on Technical Background Report. Concord, NH, 2019.
  3. [79]U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Indirect Food Additives: Paper and Paperboard Components. Federal Register 2016, 81 (1), 5.
  4. [93]Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis; Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK, and New York, 2013.
  5. [94]Rand S; Yamabe M; Campbell N; Hu J; Lapin P; McCulloch A; Merchant A; Mizuno K; Owens J; Rollet P Nonmedical aerosols, solvents, and HFC 23. In IPCC/TEAP Special Report: Safeguarding the Ozone Layer and the Global Climate System; Fujimoto Y., Pons J, Eds.; Cambridge, U.K., 2005.
  6. [103]European Chemicals Agency. Guidance for monomers and polymers. Report ECHA-12-G-02-EN; Helsinki, 2012; Vol. 2.0.
  7. [113]Ivy DJ; Rigby M; Baasandorj M; Burkholder JB; Prinn RG. Global emission estimates and radiative impact of C4F10, C5F12, C6F14, C7F16 and C8F18. Atmos. Chem. Phys 2012, 12 (16), 7635– 7645.
  8. [118]Velders GJM; Madronich S; Clerbaux C; Derwent R; Grutter M; Hauglustaine D; Incecik S; Ko M; Libre J-M; Nielsen OJ; Stordal F; Zhu T; Blake D; Cunnold D; Daniel J; Forster P; Fraser P; Krummel P; Manning A; Montzka S; Myhre G; O’Doherty S; Oram D; Prather M; Prinn R; Reimann S; Simmonds P; Wallington T; Weiss R Chemical and Radiative Effects of Halocarbons and Their Replacement Compounds. In IPCC/TEAP Special Report: Safeguarding the Ozone Layer and the Global Climate System; Saksen ISA, Jallow BP, Eds.; Cambridge, U.K., 2005; p 48.
  9. [137]Cousins IT; Ng CA; Wang Z; Scheringer M Why is high persistence alone a major cause of concern? Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts 2019, 21, 781. 30973570
  10. [138]U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Perfluoroalkyl Sulfonates; Significant New Use Rule. In 40 CFR 721 ed., 2002; Vol. 67 FR 72854, pp 72854– 72867.
  11. [139]U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Perfluoroalkyl Sulfonates; Significant New Use Rule. In 40 CFR 721 ed., 2007; Vol. 72 FR 57222, pp 57222– 57235.
  12. [140]U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Long-Chain Per- fluoroalkyl Carboxylate and Perfluoroalkyl Sulfonate Chemical Substances; Significant New Use Rule. In 40 CFR 721 ed., 2015; Vol. 80 FR 2885, pp 2885– 2898.
  13. [141]United Nations. Report of the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants on the work of its ninth meeting; Geneva, 2019.
  14. [143]Council of the European Union. Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the quality of water intended for human consumption (recast); General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union, 2020; Vol. 2017/0332(COD).
  15. [149]Washington State Legislature. Firefighting agents and equipment - toxic chemical use. 2018; Vol. 70. 75A.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Kwiatkowski, C. F., Andrews, D. Q., Birnbaum, L. S., Bruton, T. A., DeWitt, J. C., Knappe, D. R. U., Maffini, M. V., Miller, M. F., Pelch, K. E., Reade, A., Soehl, A., Trier, X., Venier, M., Wagner, C. C., Wang, Z., & Blum, A.
Affiliations
  • North Carolina State University (US)
  • Environmental Working Group , ,
  • National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (US)
  • Green Science Policy Institute , , ,
  • East Carolina University (US)
  • Private Residence , , ,
  • University of North Texas Health Science Center (US)
  • Natural Resources Defense Council (US)
  • European Environment Agency (DK)
  • Indiana University Bloomington (US)
  • Harvard University (US)
  • ETH Zurich (CH)
  • University of California System (US)
Corresponding author
Kwiatkowski, Carol F.
Venue
Environmental Science & Technology Letters
Published
2020-06-30
Volume
7
Issue
8
Pages
532-543
ISSN
2328-8930 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3038543216
Cited by
721
References
108
Citations by year
2026: 168 · 2025: 171 · 2024: 111 · 2023: 102 · 2022: 94 · 2021: 62 · 2020: 12
FWCI
25.01
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Environmental Science & Technology Letters (publishedVersion, public-domain)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • Repository for Publications and Research Data (ETH Zurich) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • ETH Zürich Research Collection
Funders
  • National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (P42ES027706)
  • Endocrine Disruption Exchange (NA)
  • Green Science Policy Institute (NA)
  • Natural Resources Defense Council (NA)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances research
  • Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Polymers and Plastics › Synthesis and properties of polymers
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Toxic Organic Pollutants Impact
Keywords
PFAS, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, perfluoroalkyl acids, fluorinated polymers, perfluoropolyether, toxicology, environmental fate, chemical regulation, PFAS alternatives

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review