PFAS: a forever threat?

Marek Pipal is a Toxicologist in our NCET team

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Today is #TechnicalTuesday so #teamWRc Toxicologist Marek Pípal is raising awareness of 'forever chemicals' and the concerns surrounding them.

Polyfluoralkyl Substances (PFAS) - the so called ‘forever chemicals’ - are among the most pressing problems in terms of anthropogenic pollution of drinking water. This group of chemicals are now virtually everywhere, having been used in waterproof and non-stick materials, and are extremely persistent. The ubiquitous presence in food, water and even people is increasingly concerning since PFAS have been shown to pose a threat to human health at very low concentration - close to the actual limits of detection.

The issue is even more challenging: despite legislation banning the most prominent PFASs, new compounds with similar properties are being introduced by manufacturers. The risk assessment for the new compounds is usually carried out with a read-across approach, using the data from similar compounds. A key focus for the National Centre for Environmental Toxicology (NCET) team at WRc is to provide protective risk assessments and trustworthy advice to water companies, using the most up-to-date research and studies.

Created by potrace 1.16, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2019

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Created by potrace 1.16, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2019

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Marek Pipal

Toxicologist

Marek is a toxicologist working at NCET, WRc with a PhD in Environmental Chemistry and Toxicology. He has experience with different aspects of (eco)toxicology: from experimental design and data assessment to environmental risk assessment and publication, as well as regulatory applications working for agrochemical companies. He has also delivered work for agrochemical companies preparing plant protection products dossiers, being the principal person for conducting literature review according to requirements set up in Directive 1107/2011/EC.

2022-11-22 10:02:00