Knowledge Café: Forever Chemicals

We live in a world full of substances developed by humans, but which do not naturally occur in the environment. Think of plastics, pharmaceuticals, and industrial chemicals. These are materials that have profoundly changed our lives, but were often introduced without a clear understanding of how they would behave in nature.

Currently, PFAS are under scrutiny: a group of hard-to-break-down substances used for a wide range of applications. For example, they were designed to make rainwear water-repellent and serve as non-stick coatings in pans. Recently, the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) warned against eating eggs from backyard chickens due to high levels of PFAS, which can be harmful to health.

What do we know about these substances? Why are they so difficult to remove from our environment? And what does this say about how we should deal with new chemical compounds in the future?

In this Knowledge Café, we explore these ‘forever chemicals’ and the impact of synthetic substances on our health and the ecosystem. Moderator Meriam Tuinhof will speak with, among others, chemist Suzanne Jansen — who works on enzymes that can break down PFAS — and professor of Environmental Law Valérie van ‘t Lam about legislation surrounding the use of such substances.