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Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and your health 

Learn about PFAS, their health risks and how to reduce your exposure.

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About PFAS

PFAS are a group of thousands of human-made chemicals that are used as surfactants, lubricants and repellents for dirt, water and grease in a wide range of products. Examples of products they’re used in include:

PFAS are in certain foams used by firefighters to extinguish fuel fires. They’re distinct from flame retardants, which work to prevent items from catching on fire.  

PFAS do not break down easily. For this reason, they stay in the environment for long periods of time. People are exposed to PFAS in products available to consumers, food, drinking water, outdoor and indoor air, and house dust.

PFAS and your health

Because PFAS are widely used and stay in the environment, we’re exposed to multiple PFAS all the time.

PFAS may affect:

What we’re doing to reduce your exposure to PFAS

Under Canada’s Chemicals Management Plan, we review and manage the potential risks that chemical substances can pose to people in Canada and the environment.

We’ve updated the report on the state of PFAS, which summarizes information available to date on this group of chemicals. Based on information in the report, we’re proposing that the class of PFAS, excluding fluoropolymers, be added to Schedule 1 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999.

This would allow Canada to implement preventive or control actions for the life cycle of the chemicals, including:

A group of PFAS chemicals called fluoropolymers are not included in this report. These compounds will be considered in a separate assessment.

We’ve also outlined the controls we’re considering to limit environmental releases and human exposure to PFAS. These include:

Additional voluntary actions are also being considered. For example:

 You may provide comments during the 60-day public comment period on our updated:

With some exemptions, we’ve already prohibited the manufacture, use, sale, offer for sale or import of the following PFAS:

We’re also proposing to remove or put a time limit on existing exemptions for these substances.

We’ve developed and published guidelines and screening values to protect people in Canada from exposure to PFAS through drinking water, soil and groundwater. Guidelines and screening values identify levels of exposure at or below which no health effects are expected. These include:

As part of our efforts to further reduce exposures to PFAS, we’re reassessing these existing drinking water guidelines and screening value.

To reduce exposures to PFAS while the reassessments are being conducted, we’re finalizing an objective for PFAS in drinking water. The objective will recommend a single treatment-based value for a group of PFAS in drinking water.

We’ve worked with provinces, municipalities and the biosolids industry to implement an interim standard for PFAS in biosolids. Biosolids are imported and sold in Canada as commercial fertilizers and are used by agricultural producers. The proposed limit will control contamination levels in foods and the environment.

We continue to:

We continue to work to reduce risks from known federal contaminated sites through the Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan, including sites contaminated with PFAS.

We also continue to work with international partners to lower the amount of PFAS that enters the environment. For example, Canada nominated LC-PFCAs to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in 2021. The convention is a global treaty that requires countries to control and reduce listed POPs across a range of industries and products. PFOS, PFOA and perfluorohexanesulphonic acid (PFHxS) were previously listed in the convention.

What you can do to reduce your exposure to PFAS

You can take steps to reduce your exposure to harmful chemicals:

With the exception of cosmetics and drugs, most other products available to consumers are not required to list ingredients on the label.

If you have questions or concerns about products you use in your home, and whether they contain PFAS, contact the manufacturer.

You should also follow local advisories. For example:

If you’re exposed to PFAS at work, talk to your employer and occupational health and safety (OHS) official about:

Related links

For more information on PFAS

For industry and professionals

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