Dangerous fluorine: lurking in ski waxes and Teflon pans

Do you jog? And what do you lube? If it’s still fluoride wax, it’s time to stop. You’re not only endangering the mountains, you’re endangering your own health. However, so-called per- and polyfluorinated substances are not only found in ski waxes, but all around us. They enter our bodies, where they remain for many years and are harmful.

At the beginning of this winter, no sports fan could have missed the discussions about banning fluoride waxes at ski races. Many may have asked themselves: “Does it even make sense to ban something like this? Isn’t this just another invention of green activists that will ultimately have no effect at all?”

The answer is clear: It makes sense. And a big one. Waxes are only the first step, because a complete ban on these extremely dangerous substances is essential for the future. Many of them are so-called ‘everlasting chemicals’ that do not break down in nature and accumulate not only in soil and water, but also in the bodies of plants and animals – including our own.

Per- and polyfluorinated substances are all around us. You must have some sources of them at home – for example in Teflon pans, waterproof clothing with Gore-Tex membranes, food packaging, sealing materials… Some of them, such as perfluorooctanoic acid, have already been banned due to proven toxicity and carcinogenicity (with few exceptions), but unfortunately their fluorine-containing substitutes are probably no friendlier to the human body and nature in general.

We cover up, we cover up.

Alarmingly, the toxic effects of fluorinated substances have been known for many decades, but thanks mainly to large industrial giants, this knowledge has long been downplayed.

The first study on the toxicity of a substance called polytetrafluoroethylene, better known as Teflon, was carried out in 1959. At that time, the substance contaminated tobacco in the manufacture of cigarettes, which caused people to experience flu-like symptoms after smoking them. A subsequent study showed that Teflon heated to 300 °C was lethal to rats. However, most scientists questioned the results. Unfortunately, this is far from the last time. For the worst in terms of disregard for scientific knowledge was yet to come.

The year is 1973. At a time when a study showing that Teflon is lethal to quail when heated has gone almost unnoticed, a doctor at DuPont, the West Virginia-based company that makes Teflon, notices something disturbing: Employees have suspiciously high levels of liver enzymes. Management doesn’t like this, of course, so they fiddle with the numbers a bit, and an internal company report eventually states that there is no evidence of health problems. It’s not that the company took no action. It even sets up and funds a lab that confirms what the company fears: Teflon is toxic to animals. But reports of the research are marked as confidential on instructions from “above” and do not reach the public. A very disturbing event – two female employees are having babies with developmental defects – will not change anything fundamental. Although this is followed by a ban on women of childbearing age working in certain workplaces, the decision is presented as a precautionary measure.

In the 1980s, significantly elevated levels of fluorochemicals are found in the blood of workers at the 3M plant, which is owned by DuPont, but even now the prevailing view is, “Sure, they have more of it in their blood, but it’s not having any negative effects on their health.”

Since the 1980s, animal studies showing that per- and polyfluorinated substances can cause, for example, irreversible liver damage, DNA damage, lipid metabolism disorders or increased incidence of cancer have been more widely reported, but the results are still downplayed and nothing is done.

During the 1990s, however, people living in a fairly wide area around DuPont began to notice that something strange was going on. A suspiciously large number of them were suffering from cancer, thyroid disorders and other problems, and there were even pet deaths. Suspicion again falls on the factory, but no lawyer can be found to stand up to the mighty giant. It is only in 2000 that it is revealed that DuPont has gradually contaminated groundwater over a wide area of West Virginia with perfluorooctanoic acid, a dangerous substance that is a carcinogen. Some 70,000 people drank the contaminated water regularly. Fortunately, this will not be covered up.

In addition, a study is again underway years later on DuPont workers who were exposed to perfluorooctanoic acid. And it’s not going well for the company either. For example, the workers had a twofold higher death rate from diabetes-related complications, a higher incidence of kidney and bladder cancer, and cardiovascular disease. There is talk of banning per- and polyfluorinated substances, but it is just talk. And this is still the case today, with few exceptions.

Why are they hurting us?

“Per- and polyfluorinated substances are some of the worst contaminants that mankind has ever produced,” explains Prof. Tomáš Cajthaml, Ph.D., DSc. from the Institute for the Environment of the Faculty of Science of Charles University. “They pose a significant environmental and health hazard because they do not practically decompose in the environment. Their chemical bonds are very strong – the only way to destroy them is controlled combustion at temperatures above 1,000 degrees. This is one of the reasons why materials containing them are so popular, because they are very durable. And they have unique properties – they repel water and oil, for example, which is why they are used in outdoor or children’s clothing. But they are also used as impregnations for paper food packaging, in Teflon cookware, which has been shown to release them, or in baking paper. The EU has decided that food packaging should not contain these substances, at least in the future, but at the moment it still does and we have no way of knowing,” he points out.

“Some of these substances have already been banned because of their proven toxicity and carcinogenicity, but so far this has only led to them being replaced by others, albeit very similar ones,” continues Prof. Cajthaml. “And whenever any of these substitutes have been tested, they have also been found to be toxic. Yet non-toxic substitutes exist, you just have to want them. And all these substances accumulate in nature, so that today they are found everywhere on the planet, in all the oceans, on all the continents. They also accumulate in the food chain, and humans, as the top of the food chain, probably have the most of them.”

It changes the processes in the cell and our genes

And how are these substances actually harmful in the body? According to Prof. Cajthaml, the problem is primarily their indestructibility, together with the fact that they are harmful directly at the cellular level. And they affect virtually all cellular processes.

“These substances have an interesting ability: they bind very well to proteins,” he explains. “But all cellular processes are controlled by proteins, whether they are enzymes or other regulatory substances. And when a perfluorinated compound binds to an enzyme, it either inactivates it or at least changes its properties. This creates a cellular imbalance, and this can manifest itself in virtually any way. Therefore, the toxicity of these substances is also incredibly varied and the mechanisms are not yet fully understood. It is known, for example, that they significantly increase the level of oxidative stress in cells. But it is not known whether this is because they disrupt membranes and damage mitochondria, for example, or whether it is because they disrupt our internal protective mechanisms against oxidative stress.”

There is also initial evidence that perfluorinated substances, particularly perfluorooctanoic acid, have the ability to influence epigenetic reactions in the body and thus the activity of certain genes in DNA. For example, negative changes in gene methylation have been found in newborns whose mothers had elevated levels of this substance in their bodies. Among the genes affected was PTBP1, which may be linked to the development of cancer later in life and possibly to the development of cardiovascular disease.

Other studies have shown, for example, that the negative epigenetic effects of perfluorooctanoic acid and other perfluorinated substances can lead to dysregulation of lipid metabolism, increased fat deposition and increased risk of fibrosis and kidney cancer. However, research into the epigenetic effects of these substances is still in its early stages, so we will have to wait for more precise information here as well.

Fluoride-free waxes only!

But back to ski wax. Fluorocarbons are used in these waxes because of their high water repellency, which gives the skis great sliding properties after lubrication.

According to Prof. Cajthaml, ski waxes represent only a small percentage of the causes of global per- and polyfluorinated pollution, only about 1 to 2 percent. That is why he also expects that the importance of their ban will be downplayed by many people, but he adds that it is very important. This is pollution that takes place in the most strictly protected mountain areas with rare habitats.

Jaroslav Semerád, Ph.D., from the Institute of Microbiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, which deals with the contamination of mountain areas with fluorinated substances, also warns against downplaying the problem of ski waxes.

“We have observed high concentrations of these chemicals in the footprints, which often exceed the concentrations measured in wastewater treatment plants,” says Dr Semerád. “The most polluted are, of course, busy ski trails, intersections and stadiums. At the same time, we have also found the presence of a number of eternal chemicals in ski waxes, including the carcinogen perfluorooctanoic acid,” he adds, adding that people who frequently use ski waxes have been found to have elevated concentrations of perfluorinated substances in their blood.

What else?

When it comes to ski waxes with fluoride, the solution is simple: although the ban is only valid for professional skiers for now, the rest of us should stop using them immediately. We are protecting nature and ourselves. For example, the most famous wax manufacturer, SWIX, no longer offers any waxes with fluorine and, according to the brand’s representatives, their fluorine-free alternatives to the HF and LF waxes used by recreational skiers have completely comparable properties. Full-fledged alternatives to 100% fluorocarbon accelerators are not yet available, but are being worked on intensively.

As for other sources of dangerous poly- and perfluorinated substances, unfortunately our options are limited. What we said recently in our article on microplastics “: we can limit the use of objects that contain them, but we cannot avoid them completely because they are already everywhere. So we can only increase our body’s general resistance to their negative effects – i.e. maintain a healthy lifestyle and, if necessary, take epigenetic supplements. And, of course, we can spread this information further, so that pressure can build up, perhaps leading to a complete ban on per- and polyfluorinated substances in the near future. Let’s get on with it!