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PFOA, PFOS and Other PFASs

Toxicity Assessment for PFBS

With the release of the final toxicity assessment for PFBS, EPA completes yet another priority action identified in EPA’s Per-and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Action Plan.  PFBS is a member of PFAS, a very large diverse class of synthetic chemicals, including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS).  

In the early 2000s, concerns grew over the environmental persistence, long half-lives in humans, and bioaccumulation potential of longer chain PFAS, in particular PFOA and PFOS.  As a result, shorter chain PFAS such as PFBS were developed and integrated into various consumer products and applications, as this compound has the desired properties and characteristics associated with this class of compounds with faster elimination from the body than PFOA and PFOS.

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