In this episode, Shelly dives into the chemistry of PFAS. They are manufactured with beautiful fluorspar and not so beautiful fossil fuels, but what about their unique chemical structure make these compounds so resistant to biodegradation? What products are PFAS in and where in the world (it's everywhere) have they ended up!?

Sources:

• Commonwealth settles $132.7 million class action over PFAS contamination across Australia: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-15/pfas-class-action-commonsettlement-reached-with-30-000-claimants/102346274
• Samal, K., et al. (2022). Pharmaceutical wastewater as Emerging Contaminants (EC): Treatment technologies, impact on environment and human health. Energy Nexus. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nexus.2022.100076.
• Glüge, J.S et al. (2020). An overview of the uses of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) [10.1039/D0EM00291G]. Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts, 22(12), 2345-2373. https://doi.org/10.1039/D0EM00291G
• Cousins, I. T., Goldenman, G., Herzke, D., Lohmann, R., Miller, M., Ng, C. A., Patton, S., Scheringer, M., Trier, X., Vierke, L., Wang, Z., & DeWitt, J. C. (2019). The concept of essential use for determining when uses of PFASs can be phased out. Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts. https://doi.org/10.1039/C9EM00163H
• Wackett, L. P., & McMahon, K. (2021). Why Is the Biodegradation of Polyfluorinated Compounds So Rare? mSphere. https://doi.org/doi:10.1128/mSphere.00721-21
• https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/03/lawsuit-claims-gore-tex-poisoned-drinking-water-near-maryland-facilities
• Luo, Y., et al. (2022). Raman imaging for the identification of Teflon microplastics and nanoplastics released from non-stick cookware. Science of The Total Environment. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158293

This episode was recorded live at Radio Adelaide on the 1st of February 2024