From fluorine’s position in the periodic table to PFAS environmental issues

PFASs have become a global pollution issue. These anthropogenic and unusually stable chemicals have been in use since the 1940s. Thousands of them, whether molecular or polymeric, have been developed and are found in innumerable industrial processes and consumer products. Multiple air and water pathways ensure their dissemination when released into the environment. They can adhere to rock and sediment, concrete, tarmac, and asphalt. Humans, animals, and plants have thus become exposed to PFASs through air, dust, soil, diet, drinking water, and wastewater. Some PFASs have been identified as very persistent in the environment, bioaccumulative, and toxic by public health authorities. This review emphasizes that the specific and outstanding properties of PFASs and of the C–F bond derive directly from fluorine’s position in the periodic table. Fluorinated surfactants also have the outstanding capacity to form large, exceptionally sturdy supramolecular self-assemblies in aqueous solutions, on solid surfaces and at liquid interfaces. This behavior may impact the fate of PFAS pollutants in the environment, as well as their remediation procedures, a fact that has so far been barely recognized. Finding alternatives to fluorinated surfactants and fluoropolymers that deliver comparably high performances while reducing their environmental and biological impact can be extremely challenging. The essential use concept distinguishes the uses for which, in the current state, PFASs hardly find any replacement product capable of matching the demanded properties from those for which lesser performance is sufficient and attainable otherwise, not to speak of those for which use of PFASs is downright futile. The need for discerning, eco-responsible use of PFASs is accentuated if we want to continue benefit from PFASs unmatchable performances.