Skip to main content

Toxic ‘Forever Chemicals’ Contaminate Indoor Air at Worrying Levels, Study Finds

By August 31, 2021September 9th, 2021PFAS in the news

“Toxic PFAS compounds are contaminating the air inside homes, classrooms and stores at alarming levels, a new study has found.

Researchers with the University of Rhode Island and Green Science Policy Institute tested indoor air at 20 sites and detected the ‘forever chemicals’ in 17 locations. The airborne compounds are thought to break off of PFAS-treated products such as carpeting and clothing and attach to dust or freely float through the indoor environment.

Experts previously considered food and water to be the two main routes by which humans are exposed to PFAS, but the study’s authors note that many humans spend about 90% of their time indoors, and the findings suggest that breathing in the chemicals probably represents a third significant exposure route. Read more…