- Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances ("PFAS")
The acronym PFAS stands for Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) which is collective term for a large, complex group of man-made chemicals used in industry and consumer products worldwide since the 1940s, and is now regarded as a now regarded as a pollutant.
There are many types of PFAS, where the best known examples used in fire fighting foam include:
- Perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA)
- Perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS)
- Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA)
- Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS)
Australia’s Department of Health considers the release of PFAS into the environment as an emerging concern because PFAS is highly persistent in groundwater and in the soil and has been shown to be toxic to fish and some animals.