Some companies are adding PFAS, also known as "forever chemicals," to wastewater
A study published in Environmental Science & Technology Letters says toilet paper should be considered a "potentially" major source of PFAS entering wastewater treatment systems.
Researchers came to that conclusion after testing toilet paper and wastewater sludge for PFAS. They found fluorotelomer phosphate diester, a type of "forever chemical," in both toilet paper and wastewater sludge. The CDC notes that PFAS are in food and the environment, making it unlikely to eliminate exposure entirely. PFAS are found everywhere: in soaps, shampoos, cleaning products, clothing, food packaging, plastics, firefighting foam, carpeting and, as recent studies have shown in menstrual products, including tampons, pads, and period underwear. The chemicals are said to contaminate the soil surrounding manufacturing plants and have been detected in the water supply—at least in communities that bother to look. There is no national mandate that water supplies be screened for PFAS, but the chemical’s presence in toilet paper provides one more route it can take into groundwater, drinking water and, eventually into our bodies. While North America’s toilet paper usage is more than many other countries, according to the researchers, the measly 4% representation of diPAP pollution in the wastewater suggests that PFAs are actually entering the system via other means. Research offers a further understanding of where PFA pollution comes from but could allow experts to be “better equipped to implement changes,” Townsend said.
And toilet paper isn’t the only potentially carcinogenic product in most homes. So, what is being done to protect us and our health? PFAS are a class of about 12,000 man-made chemicals that have been used in industry and consumer products worldwide since the 1940s, specifically to make products that are resistant to heat, water, and stains.
Surveiling sewage for health threats is nothing new. The Covid pandemic spurred a massive expansion in wastewater monitoring due to its usefulness in flagging emerging variants and case trends.
