[CPEO-MEF] PFAS: "The Arctic Is Now Leaking Out High Concentrations of 'Forever Chemicals'"

[Lenny Siegel <LSiegel@cpeo.org>]

The Arctic Is Now Leaking Out High Concentrations of 'Forever Chemicals’ 

By DAVID NIELD
Science Alert
JULY 2021 

Polyfluoroalkyl and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are known as 'forever chemicals' because they don't naturally break down in the environment. Now a new study reveals the increasing pace of Arctic ice melt is leaking more of these chemicals into the environment.

PFAS don't originate in the Arctic, but they do settle there – they're used in all kinds of human-made products and processes, from pizza boxes to foam used to fight fires. Once released into the atmosphere, they're often trapped in Arctic ice floes.

This is nothing new. But in a worrying new study by chemists from Lancaster University in the UK, it appears the concentrations of PFAS in bulk sea ice are closely related to the salinity of the water. So the more briny the sea, the more concentrated these forever chemicals get. 

…

For the entire article, see
https://www.sciencealert.com/arctic-ice-melt-is-leaking-out-high-concentrations-of-forever-chemicals

For the full study, see https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.1c01645

—

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director
Center for Public Environmental Oversight
A project of the Pacific Studies Center
LSiegel@cpeo.org
P.O. Box 998, Mountain View, CA 94042
Voice/Fax: 650-961-8918
http://www.cpeo.org
Author: DISTURBING THE WAR: The Inside Story of the Movement to Get Stanford University out of Southeast Asia - 1965–1975 (See http://a3mreunion.org)

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