PFAS

The European Commission’s proposal to restrict PFAS or ‘forever chemicals’ is at serious risk of being hijacked by corporate lobbying, warns a Corporate Europe Observatory’s analysis of newly-released documents that reveal industry's influencing tactics. The conclusion is clear: it’s time for a lobby firewall to protect PFAS decision-making from corporate lobbying.

A new study by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) that probed the level of PFAS in protective clothing worn by firefighters and how wear and tear can increase the amount of measurable PFAS in these garments revealed quantifiable amounts in 25 of the 32 textile samples tested.

Recent investigations have revealed alarming levels of harmful chemicals in ultra-fast fashion items as retailers like Shein, Temu and AliExpress surge in popularity in Australia and across the globe.

US researchers have come up with a method to decompose and recycle old polyester textiles to create an alternative to the carcinogenic fluorinated finishes, also known as ‘forever chemicals’.

Textiles are one of the biggest sources of PFAS pollution in Europe though their use in most types of textiles is not a technical necessity, says a briefing by the European Environment Agency as it warns that PFAS in textiles can be a barrier to their longer use, reuse and recyclability, negatively influencing the sector’s shift to a more circular economy.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have come up with new filtration membranes based on natural silk and cellulose that can remove contaminants, including ‘forever chemicals’ and heavy metals.

US researchers have discovered a bacteria that can destroy certain kinds of PFAS or forever chemicals linked to cancer and other human health maladies.

An investigation of different PFAS (perfluoroalkyl substances) – chemicals which do not break down in nature – has given an insight into the significance of the dermal route as pathway of exposure to a wide range of forever chemicals.

A global manufacturing centre of the fast fashion sector, Bangladesh, with no specific regulations on PFAS, has high levels of toxic PFAS chemicals in its surface and tap water samples, collected from industrial areas that are centres of the textiles industry throughout and around Dhaka.

Researchers are developing a process with alternative substances that can be used to produce environmentally friendly water-repellent textile fibres.