Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a large group of several thousand synthetic chemicals that have been used since the 1940s in millions of products including non-stick cookware, waterproof clothing, stain-resistant textiles, cosmetics, food packaging, firefighting foams and more. They have also been used widely in industrial applications such as oil and gas production, semiconductor manufacturing, and photographic applications. PFAS are a concern due to their persistence in the environment and a growing body of evidence linking them to adverse environmental and human health impacts.

PFAS are unique because they contain extremely strong and stable carbon-fluorine (C-F) chemical bonds. These bonds make PFAS resistant to heat, oxidation, hydrolysis, and chemical corrosion, which contributes to their persistence in the environment and why they are often referred to as “forever chemicals.”

People are exposed to PFAS by various pathways including food, consumer products, and environmental sources. Of the thousands of legacy and new PFAS, perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) have been studied the most. Since a 2006 Screening health assessment reported that most Canadians carry low levels of PFOS in their blood, additional biomonitoring initiatives in Canada were undertaken (2007 to 2019) that detected other PFAS (PFOA, PFNA, PFDA, PFHxS, PFOS). While the levels of some phased-out chemicals appear to be decreasing, there are still knowledge gaps about other PFAS that have not been widely studied, including some replacements for legacy PFAS.

PFAS exposure can cause health effects ranging from elevated cholesterol levels, changes in liver enzymes, impaired vaccine response, high blood pressure or pre-eclampsia during pregnancy, low birth weight, and some cancers. PFAS in the environment is also a concern, and some PFAS are listed in the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) Annex A (to eliminate use) and Annex B (to limit the use). Canada has amended the Canadian Environmental Protection Act to reflect these additions (see link for details). Several lawsuits have been lodged related to PFAS use in products in Canada, environmental pollution, and drinking water contamination. Some companies are now moving towards discontinued production of all PFAS.

This subject guide provides selected resources that can help Canadian environmental public health professionals to:

• Understand the types of health effects caused by PFAS exposure
• Understand the routes of exposure to PFAS via water, food, or other sources
• Understand current approaches to managing PFAS through regulation, testing, and treatment.

Background on PFAS

Most people have been exposed to low levels of PFAS in the environment, in the home, or in consumer products. The following resources provide background information on sources of PFAS and the current state of knowledge about these pervasive chemicals.

• Focus on per-and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) (Public Health Ontario, 2026)
  This report provides an overview of PFAS in the Ontario and Canadian context to support public health practitioners. It provides a summary of known sources and environmental concentrations of PFAS, with information on exposures, health effects, and actions to reduce exposures.

• State of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) report (Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) & Health Canada, 2025)
  This report provides information about the fate, sources, occurrence, and potential impacts of PFAS on the environment and human health. It includes information on human biomonitoring, toxicological and epidemiological studies, and ecotoxicity studies in a Canadian context.

Understanding the health effects of PFAS exposure

• Our current understanding of the human health and environmental risks of PFAS (US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 2026)
  This website provides a high-level overview of PFAS sources, exposure routes, possible health effects, and groups at higher risk of exposure. Also see the 2025 US EPA Human health toxicity assessment for PFOA and Human health toxicity assessment for PFOS.

• Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) (National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), 2026)
  This website provides an overview of the research underway by NIEHS to better understand the possible health effects of exposure to PFAS. Sections include what has been learned so far, projects currently underway, and further PFAS stories and resources from the NIEHS.

• An overview of the impact of PFAS on animals, humans, and the environment using a One Health approach (Ferretti et al., 2026)
  This review applies a One Health lens to describe the interconnected impacts of PFAS on human, animal, and environmental health. It identifies knowledge gaps that hinder risk assessment and management of PFAS and emphasizes the need for a One Health approach.

• PFAS exposure, mental health, and environmental justice in the United States: Impacts on marginalized communities (Sukhram et al., 2025)
  This review examines possible links between PFAS exposure and mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, and cognitive decline. The study highlights how environmental and social health disparities elevate risks, particularly the disproportional effect on populations living near contaminated sites.

• Public health goals (PHG) for perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid in drinking water (California OEHHA, 2024)
  This technical support document provides information on health effects from PFOA and PFOS in drinking water, and justification for the PHGs, which are the concentrations estimated to pose no significant health risk to individuals based on their daily water consumption over a lifetime.

• Guidance on PFAS exposure, testing and clinical follow up (National Academies of Sciences Engineering and Medicine, 2022)
  This consensus report provides recommendations on when to test for PFAS exposure, how to interpret results and advice on clinical follow up for people with >2 ng/mL PFAS in blood serum or plasma. See the Highlights report for an overview of the key recommendations.

• Review: Evolution of evidence on PFOA and health following the assessments of the C8 Science Panel (Steenland et al., 2020)
  This review article presents the evidence on the association between PFOA and kidney and testicular cancer and possible links to elevated cholesterol, ulcerative colitis, liver and immune function, and low birthweight.

Understanding routes of PFAS exposure

Ingestion is the most significant route of PFAS exposure, and ingestion of contaminated drinking water is the most documented exposure route. However, PFAS have also been detected in food, food packaging, cosmetics, clothing, textiles, and other household products.

• Meaningful and achievable steps you can take to reduce your risk (US EPA, 2026)
  This factsheet sets out specific steps that the public can take to reduce their possible exposure during daily activities.

• PFAS Exposure Assessments (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, 2024)
  This resource on exposure assessments (EA) sets out the approach used to conduct EAs in ten US communities known to have PFAS in their drinking water, specifically communities near current or former military bases.

PFAS in drinking water

• Les SPFA et l’eau potable (Gouvernement du Québec, 2026) [FRENCH SITE ONLY]
  This website provides information on the presence of PFAS in the environment, exposures, actions taken by governments to protect drinking water, and ways to limit PFAS exposure.

• Global occurrence and distribution of PFAS in groundwater with emphasis on PFOA and PFOS (Brindha et al., 2025)
  This book chapter reviews the available data on the distribution and concentrations of PFAS in groundwater globally, and highlights Canadian sources of information on groundwater, surface water, and tap water concentrations.

• Characterization of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in drinking water sources in the greater Montreal Area, Quebec, Canada (Ceballos et al., 2025)
  This study reports on levels of 77 PFAS in source water and treated water from 15 drinking water treatment plants (WTP) in the Greater Montreal area. Thirty-two PFAS were detected across the study and all total PFAS concentrations in samples were below the Health Canada guideline (30 ng/L). WTPs showed limited ability to remove PFAS from source water.

• Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in potential drinking water sources globally: Distributions, monitoring trends, and risk assessment (Zhou et al. 2025)
  This systematic review analyzes global studies reporting on PFAS in drinking water, 2014 to 2024. A calculation of risk distribution for PFAS globally found that nearly half of the world’s drinking water sources were at high risk of exceeding the US EPA risk quotient for total PFAS.

• Water talk: Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water (Health Canada, 2024)
  This guidance document provides information on PFAS in drinking water including Canadian and international limits, the possible health effects, and ways to reduce exposure.

• Decision-support logic diagram for the presence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water (INSPQ, 2024)
  This guidance document provides a decision-making flowchart to support the assessment and management of risks arising from detection of PFAS in drinking water. It provides guidelines for chronic and sub-chronic exposures, for individual PFAS, and for the sum of all PFAS.

• Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in United States tap water: comparison of underserved private-well and public-supply exposures and associated health implications (Smalling et al., 2023)
  This study compares PFAS in unregulated private-well and regulated tap water in the US between 2016–2021. At least one PFAS was detected in 20% of private-well (55/269) and 40% of public supply (182/447) samples. The study estimates that at least one PFAS could be detected in about 45% of US drinking-water samples, with probability of detection varying spatially.

PFAS in food & food packaging

• Levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in foodstuffs: a review of dietary exposure, health risks, and regulatory challenges (Oliveira Souza and Domingo, 2025)
  This review reports on studies (2016 to 2025) reporting PFAS concentrations in different food types worldwide. Seafood is highlighted as a primary exposure route, and plant-based foods typically have lower PFAS levels, though irrigation and soil pollution can influence levels.

• Ubiquitous global use of persistent PFAS threatens Arctic Indigenous peoples for decades to come (Sonne et al., 2025)
  This study reports on the levels of PFAS in ringed seal and polar bear meat in the Arctic and estimates how concentrations are magnified up the food chain to human consumers. Based on typical consumption patterns, many people consuming these food sources will be exceeding toxicity guidelines until 2090.

• Associations between self-reported consumption of foods and serum PFAS concentrations in a sample of pregnant women in the United States (DeLuca et al., 2025)
  This study reports on PFAS serum levels among women within the three months prior to pregnancy and association with consumption of various food items. Different food types, both processed and unprocessed, were associated with elevated serum levels of different PFAS.

• Workshop on latest advancements of PFASs risk assessment (European Food Safety Authority, 2025)
  This set of workshop proceedings includes presentations, documents, and a workshop report summarizing contributions from EU and international agencies, universities, and other parties about the latest scientific developments on PFASs in food, including risk assessment.

• Characterizing important dietary exposure sources of perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) in Inuit youth and adults in Nunavik using a feature selection tool (Aker et al., 2024)
  This study investigated associations between six PFAAs in blood plasma and consumption of country and market foods in Nunavik. Frequent consumption of beluga misirak, seal liver, suuvalik, and ptarmingan were associated with higher plasma concentrations of PFAAs, with country foods more strongly associated with PFAAs than market foods overall.

• Examining disparities in PFAS plasma concentrations: Impact of drinking water contamination, food access, proximity to industrial facilities and superfund sites (Li et al., 2024)
  This study examines PFAS levels in plasma of individuals living close to contaminated sites and with different levels of neighbourhood food access (e.g., proximity to a supermarket). Findings suggest that low food access and high reliance on packaged and fast-food is associated with higher plasma PFAS levels.

• Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in Canadian fast food packaging (Schwartz-Narbonne et al., 2023)
  This study provides background on the use of PFAS in food packaging and presents an analysis of some Canadian fast-food packaging. The highest total fluorine concentrations were detected in molded fiber bowls (compostable plastic alternatives) and paper bags used for oily foods.

• The trouble with PFAS. Challenges in the assessment of uptake and exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances at contaminated sites (Phillipps et al. 2018)
  This slide deck presents key findings of a literature review conducted by Intrinsik for Health Canada about PFOA and PFOS in various foods including fish, mammals, breastmilk, dairy milk, eggs, and plants.

PFAS in the home, consumer products, and textiles

• Widespread PFAS contamination in pet food: Dietary sources and health risks to companion animals (Nomiyama et al., 2026)
  This study reports on 34 PFAS analyzed in 100 commercial dog and cat foods, finding frequent detection of PFAS, which varied by dry and wet food, source ingredients (e.g., fish), and country of origin.

• Report on the use of PFAS in cosmetic products and associated risks (US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), 2025)
  This report summarizes the FDA’s assessment of PFAS in cosmetic products and the scientific evidence related to product safety and risks. There remain significant data gaps related to PFAS use in cosmetic products, including dermal and oral absorption data and dermal toxicity data.

• PFASs and alternatives in cosmetics: report on commercial availability and current uses. (OECD, 2024)
  This report summarizes the occurrence of PFAS intentionally added to some cosmetics or present as unintentional impurities or byproducts, alongside challenges related to substitutions in product reformulations.

• Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in paired house dust and tap water from United States homes (Deluca et al., 2024)
  This study reports on PFAS measured in tap water and house dust in 241 US homes. At least one target PFAS was found in both tap water and dust in all homes. Proximity to local sources of PFAS, such as airports or manufacturing sites, was associated with higher PFAS in tap water, whereas in-home PFAS sources were responsible for house-dust contamination.

• PFAS found in firefighter gloves, hoods, and wildland gear (National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), 2024)
  This article highlights work by NIST to understand the presence of PFAS in textiles used for firefighting gear. This builds on a 2023 study by NIST to characterize PFAS in various layers of gear, and a 2024 report finding that wear and tear on gear over time causes release of more PFAS.

• Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in consumer products: Current knowledge and research gaps (Dewapriya et al., 2023)
  This review summarizes findings of studies assessing PFAS levels in 15 consumer product types. Food contact materials were most studied followed by textiles, household chemicals, and waxes. PFAS levels were highest in household fire extinguisher foams followed by textile finishing agents, and household chemicals.

• Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in North American school uniforms (Xia et al., 2022)
  This study reports on the analysis of PFAS in children’s textile products from US and Canadian retailers, including school uniforms, weather-resistant outdoor wear, and other children’s products. School uniforms and outdoor wear contained the highest concentrations of PFAS.

• Furthering the understanding of the migration of chemicals from consumer products – A study of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in clothing, apparel, and children’s items (Munoz et al., Commission for Environmental Cooperation, 2017)
  This project report details the testing for 31 PFAS across consumer products (primarily textiles) in Mexico, the US, and Canada including several products intended for babies and children.

PFAS in stormwater, wastewater, and biosolids

• PFAS in stormwater control measures: Removal, distribution, and long-term fate (Gómez-Ávila et al., 2026)
  This study evaluates the effectiveness of various stormwater control measures to remove PFAS from stormflow. There are variations in how different PFAS partition between sediment and water, with some long-chain PFAS having a greater affinity for solids and other PFAS remaining in water phase. Storm events can occasionally resuspend PFAS held in solids.

• PFAS in biosolids: Insights into current and future challenges (Srivastava & Macdonald, 2025)
  This perspectives paper summarizes current practices, challenges, and insights into the management of PFAS in biosolids in Australia, Canada, Denmark, New Zealand, and the USA. The authors highlight the need for effective source control to limit PFAS entry into wastewater, and science-based regulatory standards for PFAS in biosolids to guide compliance.

• Managing PFAS in sewage sludge: Exposure pathways, impacts, and treatment innovations (Pascu et al., 2025)
  This review summarizes current knowledge on detection of PFAS in sewage sludge and factors influencing PFAS occurrence and fate in sludge. It covers information on PFAS uptake in crops grown on biosolid-amended soils, and the environmental and human health risks. International regulation, advisory levels, and PFAS removal technologies for sludge are also discussed.

• Draft sewage sludge risk assessment for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) (US EPA, 2025)
  This risk assessment summarizes the US EPA’s current understanding of the potential risks to human health and the environment posed by PFAS in sewage sludge applied to land used for agriculture, forestry, or other uses.

• Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in Canadian municipal wastewater and biosolids: Recent patterns and time trends 2009 to 2021 (Gewurtz et al., 2024)
  This study reports on PFAS concentrations in wastewater influent, effluent, and biosolids from 27 Canadian wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). All influent and effluent contained PFAS, with higher concentrations in WWTPs that process landfill leachate.

• Biosolids and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) (Interstate Technology Regulatory Council (ITRC), 2022)
  This factsheet summarizes technical information about risk and management of PFAS in biosolids, including considerations for land application, leaching, uptake by plants and biota, and information on observed concentrations.

Managing PFAS in Canada: regulatory approaches, risk management, testing, and treatment

• The PFAS roadmap–Navigating a path together to improved management (Padhye et al. 2026)
  This article presents a roadmap for managing PFAS based on a synthesis of expert knowledge across the PFAS lifecycle. This considers sources, regulation, PFAS alternatives, monitoring, remediation, and treatment of PFAS waste.

Canadian regulatory limits and risk management guidance

• Risk management approach for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), excluding fluoropolymers (ECCC and Health Canada, 2025)
  This risk management document sets out the Government of Canada’s phased regulatory approach to achieve the goal of reducing both the release of PFAS into the environment and opportunities for human exposure.

• Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) standard for commercial biosolids imported or sold in Canada as fertilizers (Canadian Food Inspection Agency, 2025)
  This guidance document sets out information on the interim standards for PFAS in biosolids imported or applied to soil in Canada as fertilizers or supplements, which must contain less than 50 µg/L PFOS (dry weight).

• Objective for Canadian drinking water quality- per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (Health Canada, 2024)
  This drinking water objective replaces the previous drinking water guidelines and screening values for nine individual PFAS and sets an Objective of 30 ng/L for the sum of 25 specified PFAS detected in drinking water. Exceedance of the objective can trigger actions by the responsible jurisdiction to investigate health risks and treatment options if required.

• Canadian soil and groundwater quality guidelines for the protection of environmental and human health — perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) (Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME), 2021)
  This guidance document provides the soil quality guidelines for PFOS in agricultural, residential, commercial, and industrial uses, and groundwater quality guidelines for PFOS relevant to exposed humans and the environment. The Scientific criteria document provides supporting evidence.

• Federal environmental quality guidelines (FEQG) for perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) for surface water, fish tissue, wildlife diet, and bird egg (ECCC, 2018)
  This guideline provides environmental benchmarks for PFOS in the environment based on toxicological effects data. FEQGs support federal risk assessment, risk management, and monitoring activities in the absence of CCME guidelines.

International regulatory limits and guidance

• Per and poly-fluorinated chemicals (PFAS) (OECD, 2026)
  This website provides OECD reports on PFAS and an up-to-date summary of PFAS initiatives, regulatory activities, risk assessment, risk management, contamination management and other PFAS resources from several countries including:

  Australia	Belgium	Canada	Denmark
  European Union	Finland	France	Germany
  Israel	Japan	Korea	Netherlands
  Norway	PR of China	Poland	Sweden
  Russia	United States

• New EU-wide protections against PFAS in drinking water come into effect (European Commission, 2026)
  This article highlights rules that came into force January 2026 requiring EU Member States to monitor PFAS in drinking water to comply with the recast Drinking Water Directive (2020), which set a drinking water limit of 100 ng/L for the sum of 20 PFAS, and 500 ng/L for total PFAS. 

• Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS): Final PFAS national primary drinking water regulation (US EPA, 2025)
  This regulatory summary explains PFAS regulation in US public drinking water systems. Legally enforceable Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCL) are established for five PFAS and a Hazard Index is applied for mixtures containing two or more of PFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA and PFBS.
  
  See US State resources about PFAS for information on individual state actions.

• Per- and polyfluroralkyl substances (PFAS). Technical/regulatory guidance (ITRC, 2023)
  This guidance document is a comprehensive compendium of information covering PFAS properties, environmental fate and transport, occurrence in various media, health effects, regulatory approaches, risk assessment, sampling, treatment technologies, risk communication, and surface water quality considerations. The full compendium of chapters is available as a pdf.

Test methods for water, food, packaging, biosolids, and tissue

• How do you measure PFAS (National Institute of Standards and Technology, 2025)
  This article explains, in simple terms, the approach used to extract and quantify PFAS from various types of samples, with an explainer video illustrating how liquid chromatography works.

• EPA PFAS drinking water laboratory methods (US EPA, 2025)
  This webpage provides details of US EPA analytical Methods 533 and 537.1, which can be used to measure 29 PFAS in drinking water.

• Testing food for PFAS and assessing dietary exposure (US FDA, 2025)
  This website provides information on the scientific methods used for analyzing PFAS in different food types, with information on validated analytes, analytical interferences, screening for PFAS in food contact materials, and the FDA approach to human health assessments.

• Method 1633 Revision A: Analysis of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in aqueous, solid, biosolids, and tissue (US EPA, 2024)
  This analytical method describes an approach for targeted PFAS extraction and analysis for several individual PFAS in aqueous, solid, biosolids, and tissues, using LC-MS/MS techniques.

• Method 1621: Determination of adsorbable organic fluorine (AOF) in aqueous matrices by combustion ion chromatography (CIC) (US EPA, 2024)
  This analytical method describes a non-target screening approach for surface water, groundwater, and wastewater, with the presence of total organic fluorine used as a surrogate for total PFAS.

Treatment and destruction techniques

• PFAS treatment technologies (ITRC, 2025)
  This guidance document describes treatment technologies for PFAS in various media including liquids, soils, and air, and the factors affecting technology selection. The technologies described include those that are ready to deploy, those with limited application, and those still in development.

• Interim guidance on the destruction and disposal of PFAS and materials containing PFAS (US EPA, 2025)
  This guidance document and associated fact sheet provide information on destruction and disposal of PFAS and PFAS-containing materials that are not consumer products. Three disposal technologies are described – thermal treatment, landfill, and underground injection.

• Treatment options for removing PFAS from drinking water (US EPA, 2024)
  This fact sheet summarizes the drinking water treatment options for removal of PFAS, namely granular activated carbon (GAC), anion exchange media, and high pressure membrane processes. The associated technical support document on best available technologies provides further details on technologies and considerations for small systems.