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Forever Pesticides: A Growing Source of PFAS Contamination in the Environment
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Environmental contamination by fluorinated chemicals, in particular chemicals from the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) class, has raised concerns around the globe because of documented adverse impacts on human health, wildlife, and ecosystem quality. Recent studies have indicated that pesticide products may contain a variety of chemicals that meet the PFAS definition, including the active pesticide ingredients themselves. Given that pesticides are some of the most widely distributed pollutants across the world, the legacy impacts of PFAS addition into pesticide products could be widespread and have wide-ranging implications on agriculture and food and water contamination, as well as the presence of PFAS in rural environments. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this commentary is to explore different ways that PFAS can be introduced into pesticide products, the extent of PFAS contamination of pesticide products, and the implications this could have for human and environmental health. METHODS: We submitted multiple public records requests to state and federal agencies in the United States and Canada and extracted relevant data from those records. We also compiled data from publicly accessible databases for our analyses. DISCUSSION: We found that the biggest contributor to PFAS in pesticide products was active ingredients and their degradates. Nearly a quarter of all US conventional pesticide active ingredients were organofluorines and 14% were PFAS, and for active ingredients approved in the last 10 y, this had increased to 61% organofluorines and 30% PFAS. Another major contributing source was through PFAS leaching from fluorinated containers into pesticide products. Fluorination of adjuvant products and "inert" ingredients appeared to be limited, although this represents a major knowledge gap. We explored aspects of immunotoxicity, persistence, water contamination, and total fluorine load in the environment and conclude that the recent trend of using fluorinated active ingredients in pesticides may be having effects on chemical toxicity and persistence that are not given adequate oversight in the United States. We recommend a more stringent risk assessment approach for fluorinated pesticides, transparent disclosure of "inert" ingredients on pesticide labels, a complete phase-out of post-mold fluorination of plastic containers, and greater monitoring in the United States. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP13954.
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“Similarly, tetraconazole contains fluorinated functional groups capable of degrading into short-chain PFAS.51,52”
From Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in Surface Water and Fluvial Sediments of a Rural Gulf Coast Watershed: A Year-long Spatiotemporal Assessment (2026) · cites this paper as [52]
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“Fluometuron contains a -CF 3 moiety and it has been identified as a potential precursor of trifluoroacetic acid (TFA).”
From Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in Surface Water and Fluvial Sediments of a Rural Gulf Coast Watershed: A Year-long Spatiotemporal Assessment (2026) · cites this paper as [52]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Donley, N., Cox, C., Bennett, K., Temkin, A. M., Andrews, D. Q., & Naidenko, O. V.
- Affiliations
- Center for Biological Diversity, Portland, Oregon, USA
- Center for Environmental Health (US)
- Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA
- Environmental Working Group, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
- Corresponding author
- Donley, Nathan
- Venue
- Environmental Health Perspectives
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Published
- 2024-07
- Volume
- 132
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 75003-75003
- ISSN
- 0091-6765 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-9924
- PMC
- PMC11268133
- OpenAlex
- W4400952853
- Cited by
- 140
- References
- 70
- Citations by year
- 2026: 71 · 2025: 64 · 2024: 5
- FWCI
- 18.43
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- public-domain
- Locations
- Environmental Health Perspectives (publishedVersion, public-domain)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, public-domain)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- U.S. Geological Survey
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances research
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Pesticide and Herbicide Environmental Studies
- Life Sciences › Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics › Toxicology › Pesticide Exposure and Toxicity
- Keywords
- PFAS, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, pesticide active ingredients, PFAS leaching, immunotoxicity, chemical persistence, water pollution, risk assessment, regulatory oversight, food and water contamination
- MeSH terms
- Canada, Environmental Exposure, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Pollutants, Environmental Pollution, Fluorocarbons, Humans, Pesticides, United States
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