M9.2 Blog: Six Chemical Classes

I decided to look more into highly fluorinated chemicals. They are also known as PFC's or PFAS's.  I thought this might be connected to the mineral fluoride that is found in products to help strengthen teeth; however, this goes further and explains how highly fluorinated chemicals are man made and come from many outlets and into our everyday products. Highly fluorinated chemicals are found in carpets, paints, papers, clothing cosmetics, etc. Basically anything you can think of that people come in contact with in a daily basis. Health concerns that come along with the exposure to PFC's are kidney and testicular cancer, elevated cholesterol, decreased fertility and thyroid complications that can reduce the effectiveness of vaccines within children. We are exposed by food consumption, drinking water, air and dust. We are most prone to exposure in our homes and work place. The biggest shock would be PFC's are found in 98% of American human bodies! Turns out many of these chemicals come with a long chain of chemical compounds which in turn causes bodily harm, however industries felt they could manipulate these chemicals into shorter chain compounds yet they have similar negative health impact consequences. In order to avoid contact with this chemical the whole things needs to be eliminated which happens to be quite slim. There are ways to minimize contact with PFC's and those are choosing textiles that are without water and stain repellency avoids foods that come in greasy packaging, avoid personal care peoducts that have the label of perflour or polyfluor labeled on it and support companies who are phasing out highly fluorinated chemicals.