Chances are you've heard the term "PFAS chemicals" or "forever chemicals" within the last few years, but maybe you're wondering what they are.

This article will get you up to speed by covering the most common PFAS-related topics and questions, including:

• What are PFAS chemicals?
• Are PFAS harmful?​
• What does PFAS stand for?
• Where does PFAS come from?
• Why are PFAS chemicals called "forever chemicals?"
• What are the current PFAS thresholds and regulations?
• How does PFAS get into the water supply?
• Which regions of the US have the worst PFAS contamination?
• Are PFAS microplastics?

And importantly, what can you do about it?

• Can PFAS be filtered out of water?
• Which filters remove PFAS?
• Which bottles remove PFAS?

​The term "PFAS" stands for polyfluoroalkyl substances.  It doesn't refer to any single chemical, but rather it refers to a group of thousands of similar ones.  Some of the more common and problematic variations you'll see are PFOS, PFOA, and GenX.

Their unique chemical properties give them noticeable benefits with certain products and applications, particularly with non-stick and stain-free consumer goods.  Because they are inexpensive and have beneficial properties, PFAS chemicals have been used in manufacturing and industry since the 1940s and 50s in all kinds of things, and The most common ones you'll likely hear about are:

• non-stick packaging and cookware
• wrappers and take-out containers from some restaurants
• stain-free clothing and carpets
• factories and industrial sites where products containing PFAS chemicals were manufactured
• firefighting foam that was commonly used at facilities like military bases

Some of these like non-stick cookware and stain-free clothing are easier to avoid, and you're starting to see more products labeled as PFAS-free like the ones shown on PFAS Central's website.  This seems to be leading up to a similar cultural and consumer shift like with what happened in the water bottle industry in the late 2000s with BPAs, which is why nearly every bottle on the market today says they're BPA-free.

And while you may think the products in your home are a more immediate threat, that's not necessarily true.  The areas around or downstream from factories and facilities where PFAS was used often have higher contamination levels in the water supply, which has led to multiple high-profile settlements.  Contamination is very region-specific, so your location plays a big role on whether you likely have increased levels of PFAS in your water supply (which we'll cover in more detail in an upcoming section).

If you're curious to learn more, here is a link to find more information about active PFAS court cases and settlements, including the one with 3M which requires the company to pay at least $10.5 billion in damages.

Perhap the most mindblowing and disturbing thing about PFAS isn't what it is, where it's from, or how it affects you.  Rather, it's how such incredibly small amounts of it can impact your health.  It's is almost impossible to comprehend, but we're going to use the sun to help us out.

​Regulatory agencies limit concentrations of harmful contaminants in your drinking water.  Three common ones you'll see are copper, lead, and more recently PFAS.  The US EPA limits copper at 1.3 parts-per-million ("ppm").  What this means is that if the copper concentration exceeds that limit, sometimes known as an "action level," then the utility provider or the company or person causing the contamination has to take corrective actions as well as notify the public of any potential health concerns.

But 1.3 ppm is hard to visualize, so what does that look like?  For comparison, let's use the sun as a reference.  The sun is on average 93 million miles away, and if you calculate it out, 1.3 millionth of the way to the sun is 121 miles.  That's almost halfway to the orbit of the International Space Station, so it's pretty far.

Lead is even more dangerous, so it has a action level of 150 parts-per-billion ("ppb").  If you calculate THAT out, 150 billionths of the way to the sun is roughly 14 miles up, which is about twice as high as most commercial airplanes.  

But some PFAS chemicals have an action level of 4 parts-per-trillion ("ppt").
(link to EPA presentation with info about limits on pg 10)

To go 4 trillionth of the way to the sun, you don't need a rocket or a plane.  You just need a short ladder because when you calculate it out, 4 trillionths of the way to the sun is about 2 feet.

While it may be difficult to believe, those kinds of small concentrations of PFAS chemicals have been linked to a wide range of health issues, including:

• decreased fertility
• developmental delays in children
• increased risk of some cancers
• interference with your body's natural hormones
• reduced immune system effectiveness
• higher cholesterol

Disclaimer: I do not claim to be an expert on PFAS, and I am relying on published data from reputable sources.  One such source I used is the US EPA, and you can find their PFAS guidelines here.

Now to be clear, this is a developing set of knowledge on a topic that need more research.  Our understanding of what PFAS does to the human body and which concentrations are truly harmful are going to continue evolving based on the evidence, just like all good science.

But there have already been enough peer-reviewed scientific studies from reputable sources that show clear enough negative health impacts to support proposing or enacting some pretty major regulations.

And judging by Google trends and reading headlines about it and multi-billion dollar settlements with major contamination offenders, you're seeing a rise in PFAS awareness with the public which is sure to lead to more changes from brands and manufacturers.

Maybe you've also heard the term "forever chemicals" in recent news, but that's just another name for PFAS.  It's catchier and is better at the reader's attention, so the term is used very frequently in news headlines.  The nickname was coined for two main reasons:

1. PFAS chemicals have bonds between carbon and fluorine atoms, which are some of the strongest bonds found in natural.  This makes PFAS chemicals very stable, long-lasting, and resistant to degradation.
2. PFAS has a cumulative affect.  Because it does not break down easily, the chemicals can stay in your body or the environment for very long time periods, and further exposure continues to increase PFAS levels in your body.

​
So don't be confused: PFAS and "forever chemicals" are the same thing.  One is simply the technical name, and the other is more of a marketing term.

Though it is regulated now, PFAS is in many common products that are still used to this day.  However, in many ways the bigger problem for many people relates to groundwater and the public water supply.

Factories, manufacturing plants, and government facilities that used PFAS either in products manufacturing or things like firefighting foam exposed the environment to PFAS contamination for decades.  Over time, this increased the PFAS concentrations in the soil and groundwater in the immediate area, as well as locations and communities downstream.

Because PFAS chemicals are is so small, many common treatment methods used by public water utilities do not remove it.  And because the threshold like the EPA's 4 ppt limit are so low, it does not take much exposure for a public water utility to technically be over the regulated limit.

Many people have started hearing the terms "PFAS" and "microplastics" recently, and their Google Trends search volumes have risen around roughly the same time period.  As its name suggest, microplastics are small bits of plastic found the water, and increasingly in different parts of the human body.

Both are health concerns that are very widespread in the environment and water systems, making them difficult to avoid.  Also, both can relate to the same types of products, making it even more confusing.

​So should you be worried?  Well, to a large degree that depends on where you live.

The Environmental Working Group has this interactive map that lets you look at sampling data at different points throughout the US.  Darker blue circles are good, lighter blue are bad, purple are military sites which often times have the highest concentrations, and orange are other types of sites like manufacturing plants.

I've included a screenshot of the map below so you can see the overview, but I encourage you to check out EWG's website and interact with the map to zoom in and see sampling data near you.

Of course, most of us can't move to Aspen, so what can we do?

Consumer Notice.org has this really helpful summary of PFAS, and it includes ways you can limit your exposure, mostly focusing on which products to avoid.  When it comes to your drinking water, that's a little trickier but thankfully there are a few options.

Disclaimer: A single PFAS test costs hundreds of dollars because it requires highly senstive and technical tests.  I run a small YouTube channel and blog, so I don't have the money to pay for tests like that yet.  But after researching this and reaching out to companies, here's what I've found.

Not all filters will remove PFAS, so you need to be careful.  ​The below recommendations are based largely on this the Duke University article referenced above and these test results from the Environmental Working Group.

The Environmental Working Group also tested a number of pitchers, which can be a better option for traveling or events.  These two had at least 98% PFAS removal in their testing, and they're some of the lowest-cost ways to start removing PFAS from your drinking water.

Now on this website I mostly talk about water bottles, and they have a place in this discussion too.  Even if you have an under-sink reverse osmosis system, but that doesn't help you out when you're on the road, especially if you're flying somewhere and you can't take any water with you.

So for traveling professionals and road warriors, having a bottle that can help filter out PFAS can be appealing.  Here are a few options that may be worth considering.

Some of these are more conclusively good at removing PFAS, others are easier to use, and some are a lot more affordable.  It's a developing mix of products, but I'm just glad there are some viable options on the market today and there will almost certainly be more coming soon.  If you made it this far, consider using one of the links if you're going to buy one of these products anyways. It doesn't cost you any extra, and I may earn a commission that really helps out. 

Hope this information helps.  Thanks again, and happy hydrating!

If you have not heard of microplastics in the past, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration gives a quick recap here. (or just google "what are microplastics" and it should come up near the top of the list).

Essentially, microplastics are small pieces of plastics that are less than 5 millimeters long.  They are caused when small plastics are washed away or discarded, and they can also be created when larger plastics break down over time.  The widespread use of plastics combined with the difficult of filtering these small pieces has caused to them to become increasingly prevalent and widespread in our drinking water, lakes, and oceans.

And as you might expect, nanoplastics are similare but are even smaller.

Some microplastics with common examples include:

• polystyrene
  • foam-forms like in insulating coolers and cups, as well as packing peanuts
  • hard forms include items like some disposable razors and CD cases
• polyethylene (the most commonly produced plastic)
  • "HDPE" (high-density polyethylene) is used to make many common containers, like milk jugs and detergent bottles, as well as industrial-size products like municipal water lines
  • microbeads that are used as exfoliants in some health and beauty products, which were thankfully banned as part of the Microbead-Free Waters Act of 2015)
• polypropylene (2nd most commonly produced plastic)
  • found in many food-grade products (including many water bottle lids)
  • some clothing (though polyester has become a common replacement)

The experiment is titled "Drinking Boiled Tap Water Reduces Human Intake of Nanoplastics and Microplastics." According the the abstract, the authors claim to:

"present evidenence that polystyrene, polyethylene, and polypropylene NMPs can coprecipitate with calcium carbonate (CaCO3) incrustants in tap water upon boiling. Boiling hard water (>120 mg L–1 of CaCO3) can remove at least 80% of polystyrene, polyethylene, and polypropylene NMPs size between 0.1 and 150 μm. Elevated temperatures promote CaCO3 nucleation on NMPs, resulting in the encapsulation and aggregation of NMPs within CaCO3 incrustants."

Essentially, this means that boiling water causes the plastics to combine with calcium cabonate (aka the "hard" in "hard water" that is in most people's homes), then the combined particles then drop to the bottom, leaving a layer of cleaner water on top.

I do not have full access to the article, but I would expect two followup questions should be considered that weren't covered in the abstract.

1. Does the water need to be filtered after boiling (likely), and if so, what type of filter would be effective to remove the precipitate?
2. How does this compare to other filtration methods, such as reverse osmosis?

At BottlePro, we keep an eye out for hydration and water bottle news, then we summarize it and post it here.  Check back with us to stay in the loop!

​YETI recently released a new bottle with a straw lid, and it’s their answer to Stanley’s Adventure Quencher bottles that took the internet by storm.  You may have noticed articles like these predicting that the new YETI straw tumbler will go viral.  These kinds of articles come up seemingly every week describing the next big Hydro Flask, YETI, or Stanley product that you should buy. 

​But we’re here to give the counterpoint with three reasons why you shouldn’t buy a Hydro Flask, YETI, or Stanley.

​Here’s the deal.  The people and companies writing these articles are affiliate marketers.  They get paid if you click a link and make a purchase, so it’s in their best interest to promote the most popular and expensive items.

​Always remember that there is no such thing as a perfect product for every person and situation.  Every single product has a drawback or something that can be critiqued.  If the article you’re reading doesn’t list at least one negative to be aware of, then you might want to get a second opinion elsewhere.

​Now obviously there are many other costs that will bring down Hydro Flask’s true net profit, including customer service, marketing, facilities costs, and employee wages.  We’re not going to try to guess what Hydro Flask’s costs are in these categories, but it’s clear to see that a minority of what you pay for with a Hydro Flask bottle is in the bottle itself.  If you think of customer service, marketing, the facilities, and the employees as essentially being the brand, then this little logo basically costs you around $30 per bottle.

Most of the price you pay is for the brand, not the bottle.

And though there are surely some differences between brands, we wouldn't be surprised if YETI and Stanley bottles are in this same ballpark.

Let’s compare these costs with Iron Flask, which is a well-established knockoff brand on Amazon.  They were close on our insulation test, and they’re almost exactly the same size and shape.

​Now some of Hydro Flask’s higher costs are well worth it.  They have great customer service, and they make really good products that last a long time.  But in our opinion, it’s still a lot to fork over for the logo and we’d rather have a greater percentage of the price we spend go into the product, not the company.  YETI’s branding-related costs are possibly even more excessive.  Stanleys aren’t quite as extreme, but you're definitely still paying for the logo.

It's a little counter-intuitive at first because one of the most important reasons why you should get a reusable bottle is for the environment.  Disposable water bottles are terrible, and upgrading to a reusable bottle is one of the best things you can do on an individual level to reduce plastic consumption.

But the reality is that most people only really need one or two bottles to get them through the day.  This why we really don’t like how viral bottles and excessive marketing budgets always push customers to get the next best bottle or color.  It's one thing if you if you want a different type of bottle for specific reason, like a smaller one with a sip lid for coffee.  But do you really need a 6th color of a 40-ounce bottle when you already have 5 similar bottles?

​And that’s it!  You might find it a little weird for our company to tell you to not buy a water bottle given that we’re in the business of making accessories for these bottles.  But like always, we try to give our honest thoughts and recommendations that will actually help.  And we know we railed on affiliate marketers before, but we did include links to the products we talked about.  If you make a purchase after clicking one of the links, then we get a small commission.  It helps our small business out, and we appreciate the support so we can continue making unbiased posts and videos like this one.  Keep BottlePro in mind for accessories for your large bottles, and happy hydrating!