In 1938, chemist Roy J. Plunkett stumbled throughout a substance that will change the world eternally. He was experimenting with refrigerant gases when he observed that one compound had reworked right into a white, waxy stable. It had extraordinary properties, being impervious to warmth and chemical degradation and in addition extraordinarily slippery.

Right now, we all know this chemical as Teflon, and produce greater than 200,000 tonnes of the stuff yearly. It’s utilized in the whole lot from non-stick frying pans to medical catheters. Although undoubtedly helpful, Teflon was additionally the primary of a bunch referred to as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), higher generally known as eternally chemical compounds.

Virtually as quickly as Teflon was invented, issues had been raised about its potential impacts on the surroundings and our our bodies (it’s price noting, although, that lately, utilizing non-stick cookware might be secure because the pans are heat-treated and don’t launch any nasties except they’re left on a excessive warmth for a very long time). Right now, the world is lastly attending to grips with simply how harmful eternally chemical compounds may be to our well being – and coping with the issue head on. In January, the US Environmental Safety Company (EPA) added 9 eternally chemical compounds to its listing of hazardous constituents. And final month, the US imposed its first ever limits on ranges of PFAS in ingesting water, in a belated bid to cut back publicity to those ubiquitous chemical compounds. However what dangers do they really pose and what ought to we be doing to take away them from our lives? Researchers face an enormous…