Meeting the challenges of applying the "essential use" concept to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are used in a broad range of consumer products and industrial applications. There is concern about the high persistence of PFAS, and certain PFAS are also known to be bioaccumulative and toxic.

For the vast majority of the thousands of PFAS on the market there is a lack of knowledge on chemical structures, properties, uses, and toxicity. Although some have called for the phase-out of all PFAS, it is impossible to ban all uses immediately. Indeed, a hasty phase-out may lead to regrettable substitutions.

To guide phase-out, the concept of “essential use” was developed to determine when uses of PFAS have an essential function in society, and when they do not.

In attempting to apply this “essential use” concept in recent work, it became apparent that a lack of key data and tools impede the application of the concept.

A PhD student will conduct research to address these challenges and will 1) determine which PFAS are particularly problematic by developing grouping strategies for prioritizing PFAS based on their intrinsic properties; 2) compile a database of PFAS uses and apply the “essential use” concept to determine if these uses are essential or not; 3) build a complementary database of potential chemical and functional alternatives to PFAS; and 4) develop novel methodologies for chemical alternative assessment for PFAS and apply them to selected PFAS use cases.

The resulting research will support informed substitution of PFAS.