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Perfluoroalkyl acids : Recent activities and research progress
Citation:
LAU, C. Perfluoroalkyl acids : Recent activities and research progress. REPRODUCTIVE TOXICOLOGY. Elsevier Science Ltd, New York, NY, 27(3-4):209-211, (2009).
Impact/Purpose:
A highlight of the recent progress of this research.
Description:
The perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) are a family of man-made fluorinated organic chemicals consisting of a carbon backbone typically of four to fourteen in length and a charged functional moiety (primarily carboxylate, sulfonate or phosphonate). The two most widely known PFAAs are the eight-carbon (C-8) chemicals, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS). PFAAs are relatively contemporary chemicals, being in use only in the past half century, but they have wide consumer and industrial applications because of their unique hydrophobic and oleophobic surfactant properties. These compounds are exceedingly stable, resistant to biodegradation, and therefore very persistent in all environmental media. On-going research progresses have been made to describe the environmental exposure, fate and transport of these chemicals, to characterize their potentials for adverse health effects and to elucidate their modes of actions relating to toxicity. An entire issue of Reproductive Toxicology has been devoted to highlight the recent progress of this research and this editorial provides a backdrop to these publications.
