Themed issues on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances
By Lutz Ahrens, Jonathan P. Benskin, Ian T. Cousins, Michelle Crimi, and Christopher P. Higgins
Royal Soc. of Chem.
October 22, 2019
DOI: 10.1039/C9EW90049G
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are a large family of chemicals manufactured since the 1940s and researched with increasing intensity since the turn of the century.1 Contamination associated with PFASs poses a grand challenge to environmental scientists due to their unique environmental chemistry, bioaccumulation behaviour and (eco)toxicology. Over the last 15+ years, research into the unique properties of PFASs and the risks these chemicals pose to the environment and human health has led to innovative approaches for chemical analysis, exposure and effects assessment, modelling, and remediation. In recognition of the large interest in research into PFASs, the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) decided to generate a pair of Themed Issues on PFASs. These themed issues appear respectively in the RSC sister journals: Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts (ESPI) and Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology (ESWRT). The ESPI Themed Issue focuses on sources, occurrence, fate and transport, bioaccumulation, human exposure and effects of PFASs; whereas the ESWRT issue focuses on treatment, remediation, and management of PFASs.
In this editorial we, the guest editors, briefly summarize current PFAS research while referring to the novel contributions in these two themed issues. We are delighted that the contributing articles cover a broad spectrum of topics, as summarized below.
• Sources of PFASs.
• Emerging analytical methods for addressing the number and diversity of PFASs.
• Fate and transport of PFASs.
• Bioaccumulation of PFASs in wildlife.
• Human exposure pathways of PFASs.
• Effects of PFASs.
• Regulation of PFASs.
• Treatment technologies for PFASs.
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