What do umbrellas, dental floss and non-stick pans have in common? They all contain PFAS — or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — which keep the water beading off your raincoat and eggs from sticking to your pan.
“Non-stick pans, Scotchgard, carpet cleaners, everywhere … anywhere you need water to bead, you have to have some kind of fluorinated compound that you spray on it,” said Sadhan Jana, a University of Akron School of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering professor who studies PFAS compounds.
The bad news? The properties that make PFAS so useful also make them almost impossible to get rid of. They don’t break down easily in nature — some can take thousands of years — and they can stay in the human body for years at a time.
PFAS biomonitoring studies by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found PFAS levels in almost all individuals who were tested, even if the person tested never worked in a factory that makes the chemicals.
Those results focused a wave of new attention on where PFAS can now be found since manufacturing processes in the 1950s began using them. They are present in the water and soil around Summit County.
“Because of the fluorine that’s along the backbone of the molecule, they don’t really stick around in water or oil, so that’s actually why when they get into our bodies they … remain in our bodies for years,” said Brandon McReynolds, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Akron’s School of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering.
“They’ll bind to proteins. They cause all kinds of issues like thyroid issues, liver and kidney issues and a lot of unique cancers.”
But there are some signs that research is causing PFAS producers and policymakers to take action. Concentrations of PFAS in human blood have decreased since 2000, in part due to the phasing out of PFAS in some manufacturing processes. And efforts to keep PFAS chemicals out of water supplies have only increased over time.
The state of PFAS in Akron
Consuming contaminated water and food are the main ways that humans are exposed to PFAS.
Akron’s water supplies are largely buffered from potential PFAS contamination, said Scott Moegling, water bureau manager for the Akron Water Supply Bureau.
The city primarily gets its water from Lake Rockwell, located in Franklin Township in Portage County, and two reservoirs along the Upper Cuyahoga River supplement it.
Understand the history: See how PFAS testing in the Cuyahoga River was required by the State of Ohio.
In total, the three reservoirs have a storage capacity of more than 10 billion gallons.
“Our water supply is so protected by the 18,000 plus acres of land that we own around all three of our raw water source reservoirs and much of the Cuyahoga River that connects them,” he said. “We control that land, and it’s by design that we control what gets into our water to a large extent.”
“Most water systems have little to no control over potential contamination, including PFAS.”
Moegling is confident that the system’s stringent water treatment, which targets many contaminants through a variety of methods, means Akron residents don’t need to worry about PFAS contamination.
Akron’s public water has been found to have a low risk for PFAS by PurityMap’s analysis of EPA sampling of Akron’s water system. PurityMap describes itself as an “independent, data-driven consumer advocacy platform” that focuses on drinking water quality in the U.S.
“We have adequate treatment to address very low levels of PFAS,” Moegling said, “but to be safe and to address other contaminants that could be an issue for us that would rely on similar treatment, we are proactively designing a granular activated carbon filtration facility, just in case.”
Akron’s water supply is also being monitored for areas of concern throughout the watershed. Water quality tests are actively compared with benchline levels to spot emerging issues.
“The most tricky part of [PFAS testing] is making sure that we are using very strict protocols so that the sample itself isn’t subject to PFAS that might be on a person’s clothing or something that they’re putting on their skin,” said Emily Collins, an environmental services manager for the City of Akron Department of Public Service.
PFAS research at the University of Akron
At UA’s School of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering, researchers Ghosh and McReynolds, along with principal investigator Jana, are looking into possible ways to filter out PFAS from water supplies.
Through a program with the National Science Foundation Innovation Corps, the team conducted interviews with water suppliers and consumers to determine if their research can fit into the market.
Ghosh and McReynolds founded GelPure Inc. as part of the Synthe6 Materials Accelerator, a program designed to support polymer startups, to bring their research discoveries to the market at a time when water providers are looking at ways to meet EPA mandates.
The team’s gel product works to remove PFAS from contaminated water by utilizing the gel’s extremely porous properties. When gel is introduced to PFAS in a water solution, the PFAS molecules are captured by the gel’s very high surface area. The gel’s high efficiency makes it useful in extreme situations.
“Our media works where most of the commercial media do not give much efficiency: very low concentration of PFAS in water that are still well above the mandated EPA limit,” Jana said. “That’s where our media would work, because it can create an appropriate surface condition for these molecules to lie on the surface, then reorganize there and create a structure that won’t easily dislodge.”
The team has faced some challenges moving from conducting research to going to market. Challenges have come from scaling up production of gel — at that point, cost is an important consideration. Pitching to water suppliers is also a challenge.
“[Water utility providers] are not acceptable to change,” Ghosh said. “They want to play it safe once they install a system that goes on for a good five to 10 years. So for a startup first-time founder, there’s a little bit of skepticism regarding if they should adapt that technology.”
Part of the problem comes from the wide range of needs that go into supplying water to residents. While water suppliers work to provide clean drinking water to all residents, it’s impossible to control everything.
“Drinking water problems can be solved in two ways,” Jana said. “One is having a personal filter; that’s where probably most of the advancement will happen. Second is municipal water, where millions of gallons of water are processed every day.”
“They need something cheap and robust. … That is a very wide gap that we need to mitigate soon.”
How to reduce exposure to PFAS
PFAS-containing consumer products can cause contamination when residue and dust from the products is ingested. According to the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, PFAS can be ingested through common household objects such as:
- Stain-resistant carpets, upholstery and other fabrics.
- Water-resistant clothing.
- Cleaning products.
- Personal care products and cosmetics, including shampoo, dental floss, nail polish and eye makeup.
- Paints, varnishes and sealants.
- Grease-resistant paper or packaging.
Since PFAS are involved in the production of such a wide range of household products, it’s impossible to completely remove these products from everyday life. But there are a growing number of products that incorporate PFAS-free production.
“After regulations came out, companies themselves are going away from PFAS made in structures,” said Moni Mahesh Ghosh, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Akron School of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering.
“Different companies are also mentioning that their product line is now PFAS-free. The existing PFAS that we have — because we have been using these chemicals for decades — it’ll take some time to phase them out … but personally, you can try to go for non-PFAS material.”
