You may never have heard of them, but you’re intimately acquainted with them.They’re in the doona you cast aside on a winter’s morning. As you turn off your alarm, they’re keeping your smartphone free of pesky fingerprints. Your fried eggs slide around on them as you cook breakfast in a non-stick pan.In the bathroom, they’re likely in your floss, makeup, shaving cream, contact lenses, and toilet paper. They graze your skin as you collapse on the couch after work or throw on your yoga pants.An investigation by this masthead and the Stan documentary, Revealed: How to Poison a Planet, can reveal the shocking extent to which man-made forever chemicals have penetrated our modern lives, lurking in hundreds of everyday household products as well as the bloodstream of 98 per cent of the world’s population. A mounting body of scientific evidence has linked the per- and poly-fluoroalkyl chemicals (PFAS) to cancer and a string of other adverse health outcomes. When asked about the risks to consumers, the ACCC noted that Australia does not have a law prohibiting the sale of unsafe goods, unlike many other OECD countries. Dr Mariann Lloyd-Smith, a toxic chemicals campaigner who has served on United Nations expert committees, has a blunt warning for consumers.“Whenever you see that word ‘stain-resistant’ or ‘water-resistant’, immediately think in your mind could that be PFAS?” she said.“I know people say to me that sends me insane … but what’s the other option, continuous exposure?”Forever chemicals’ extraordinary capacity to repel water, oil and stains has made them a darling of industry for decades and propelled their maker, American industrial giant 3M, to billion-dollar profits.Most of the roughly 14,000 forever chemicals in circulation have flooded the marketplace without ever being scrutinised for their effects on human health.Scientists have been drawing increasingly disturbing conclusions about the small number that have been studied, warning they are much more hazardous to humans than previously understood and that there is no safe amount in drinking water. In December, one of the most notorious forever chemicals, formerly used to make non-stick Teflon frying pans, was declared carcinogenic by the World Health Organisation.The US and European Union have concluded the most well-studied forever chemicals may increase the risk of some cancers, suppress the immune system, raise cholesterol, interfere with hormones and cause developmental effects in children.paragraphtitle: Poisoned planet The documentary traces the stealthy march of the chemicals across nearly every inch of the planet since they were invented by 3M in the 1930s.Known as “forever chemicals” because they never break down in the environment, PFAS have found their way into rainwater, polar bears in the Arctic, the peaks of Mount Everest and nearly every corner of the modern Australian home.Researchers have found the chemicals in 943 different consumer products since 2010, according to a new UNSW study. However, US President Joe Biden’s scientific advisers have found that a lack of information about which products contain forever chemicals remains a major challenge.“Before development of alternatives can begin, we first need to fully understand the uses,” they wrote last yearMany recent discoveries about where forever chemicals are lurking can be credited to the sleuthing of scientists and consumer advocates like Leah Segedie.The wellness blogger from south-eastern California recently uncovered markers of PFAS in sanitary pads, contact lenses, dental floss, nut butter, ketchup, yoga pants, sports bras, makeup, children’s backpacks, deodorant, sandwich bags and bandages.Segedie, who reaches more than 5 million people via her consumer watchdog site Mamavation, took it upon herself to start testing products using her own funds and donations from readers.A group of eminent academics, including Dr Linda Birnbaum, former head of America’s National Toxicology Program, soon offered to ensure the studies were scientifically sound.Of all Segedie’s discoveries, her most disappointing was the discovery of markers of forever chemicals in sports bras.“Sixty-five per cent of the sports bras I tested had PFAS right next to that fabric that goes by the nipple,” she said.“So what if I just had a baby, and I’ve got 25 pounds [11 kilograms] to work off? If I was pregnant or breastfeeding, I would be really concerned about sports bras,” she said.Segedie spot checks products for fluorine, the telltale chemical fingerprint of PFAS, to overcome the fact that only a handful of forever chemicals can be tested for.Even well-intentioned brands could struggle to rid their products of PFAS because they were often introduced inadvertently during the manufacturing process.“I know where the bodies are buried in green beauty,” Segedie said.“Nobody is going to fix this until theres light on it.”paragraphtitle: How can you protect yourself? The Australian government banned three of the most notorious “forever chemicals” at the end of last year.But without a complete ban on the entire family of chemicals, the public’s only avenue to avoid exposure was to pay close attention to product labels, Dr Lloyd-Smith said.She warned that the industry was able to make confidentiality claims or use generic terms to mask the use of PFAS.“If the label isn’t clear, then think about buying something else,” she said.“Dont think they wouldn’t sell it if it wasn’t safe … we’ve shown that to be wrong.”Lloyd-Smith said people should opt for garments made from natural fibres rather than synthetic fabrics that may have been treated with PFAS.She labelled it “extraordinary” that forever chemicals were allowed to be used in products like dental floss, where they could possibly be unintentionally ingested.Older types of forever chemicals like perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), the key ingredient in the famous fabric protector Scotchgard, have now been phased out after generations of Australians were exposed at levels up to 20 times higher than what 3M’s own scientists deemed safe.Manufacturers claim new breeds of forever chemicals are safer because they don’t linger for as long in the human body.But regulatory authorities worldwide have been increasingly concerned that the so-called “short-chain” chemicals could also be hazardous to humans because of animal studies linking them to cancer and damage to the liver, kidneys, immune system and unborn babies.Manufacturers agreed to halt production of one of the short-chain chemicals in fast-food packaging last year after safety concerns were raised by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).Australia’s food packaging industry is pursuing its own voluntary phase-out of forever chemicals.A spokeswoman for the peak industry body, the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO), said the removal of PFAS was “a matter of priority”, and it was guiding businesses on how to test for markers of forever chemicals in packaging and find alternatives.“APCO would be supportive of a mandatory phase-out of PFAS in packaging … but recognises the breadth of work this involves,” the spokeswoman said.Lloyd-Smith wasn’t impressed that the clean-up was being left in the hands of industry.“I was quite shocked there was not a more solid regulatory response to that,” she said.Jamie DeWitt, a professor of toxicology at East Carolina University, said even if the newer types of forever chemicals were more rapidly eliminated from the body, there was still chronic exposure if people had regular contact with them.“The public should be concerned about their exposures to all PFAS and should have options for limiting their exposures where they can, which means having information on the PFAS that they may be exposed to in products, their food, water and their workplaces,” she said.paragraphtitle: Pulling the pin 3M, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of forever chemicals, has pledged to pull the pin on all production by the end of next year.“3Ms products, including those that contain PFAS, are safe and effective for their intended uses,” a spokeswoman said.“We have already reduced our use of PFAS over the past three years through ongoing research and development, and we will continue to seek to innovate new solutions for customers.”At least 11 other manufacturers continue to churn out the chemicals globally, according to Swedish non-profit organisation ChemSec.It estimates the worldwide PFAS market is worth just over 26 billion euros ($43.3 billion).A spokesman for the American Chemistry Council, which advocates for more than 190 chemical companies, said it opposed any one-size-fits-all approach that targets the entire family of forever chemicals as if they were all the same.He warned a ban on all types of PFAS could result in “thousands of industrial and consumer products with a history of safe use becoming unavailable”. These included cars, mobile phones, rechargeable batteries and critical refrigerants.“Policymakers must properly define, and then regulate, the specific categories of PFAS that have the greatest potential to cause risk for exposure and toxicity,” the spokesman saidBut Lloyd-Smith said because only about 14 forever chemicals have been properly studied, that was an impossible task.“The idea that any industry can claim a PFAS chemical is OK, safe or less harmful is just ludicrous,” she said.paragraphtitle: ‘Hard is an excuse’ The US Midwest state of Minnesota has become the first place in the world to announce a ban on the entire class of forever chemicals after a deathbed campaign by Amara Strande, who grew up in a town where the drinking water was poisoned with PFAS.Amara began campaigning after an investigation by this masthead, featured in the documentary, exposed her struggle with a rare type of liver cancer and uncovered a further 20 cases of cancer in students from her high school.“Amara’s Law” was passed in May last year, a fortnight after Strande died at the age of 20.Strande’s mother, Dana, said her daughter prevailed in the face of fierce lobbying by the chemical industry, and Australian regulators should not be misled into thinking a complete ban on PFAS would be too difficult to achieve due to the sheer number of products involved.“I think Amara would say, ‘Hard is an excuse, not a reason,’” she said.“Will there be a lot of work involved? Yes. But life is precious. Amara knew that life was precious in spades. Hard is dying when you don’t want to leave this life.”The Australian government, which has been defending multimillion-dollar litigation over the pollution, contends that forever chemicals are unlikely to cause “important” health effects.An independent umpire appointed by Australia’s federal court did not agree in a 2020 ruling.An ACCC spokeswoman noted it was aware of health concerns over PFAS exposure and said chemical management in Australia was a shared responsibility between the Commonwealth and the states.She said consumer law in Australia did not directly prohibit the sale of unsafe products but provides consumers with a guarantee that goods should be of an acceptable quality, which includes that they are safe.The law puts enforcement in the hands of customers rather than the ACCC, requiring them to seek a refund, replacement, or repair if the guarantee is not met.“Businesses have an obligation to be honest and not make misleading claims about their products or services, including with respect to safety,” the spokeswoman said.The Stan Original Documentary Revealed: How To Poison A Planet, premieres April 28, only on Stan.