From Pesticides to PFAS: The Challenges Posed by These New Classes of Chemicals for Research and Regulation in California

Theme of the ExposUM ongoing seminar: “Interaction between research, policy, and social actors.”

Pesticides and perpetual chemicals (PFAS) are often portrayed as posing less of a toxicological risk and being less persistent in the environment than older generations of chemicals. However, recent research has revealed that new-generation pesticides, such as neonicotinoids—designed to target a specific receptor in certain insects (nAChR)—have effects on non-target species. Similarly, short-chain PFAS have been promoted as safer alternatives to long-chain PFAS, which are recognized as toxic, ubiquitous, and persistent in the environment. These short-chain PFAS also exhibit significant biological and toxicological activities. In this presentation, we will review some of the emerging toxicological evidence on these two types of chemicals and discuss the challenges and limitations of regulating them, particularly in the context of California.

Newer generations of chemicals, such as pesticides and “forever chemicals” (PFAS), are often touted as being safer from a toxicological standpoint and less persistent in the environment. However, emerging research evidence has revealed that newer-generation pesticides, such as neonicotinoids, still exhibit off-target effects despite being engineered to target the insect nAChR receptor. Similarly, shorter-chain PFAS have been promoted as safer alternatives to the toxic, ubiquitous, and persistent longer-chain, legacy PFAS. However, these shorter-chain PFAS also exhibit significant biological and toxicological activity, casting doubt on the validity of proposed regulations for PFAS based on chemical class. In this presentation, we will review some of the emerging toxicological evidence on these two types of chemicals and discuss the challenges and limitations of regulating them, specifically within the context of California.

Speaker:

Patrick Allard, a guest on Mak’it, is a professor at the Institute for Society and Genetics at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and a researcher in genetics, epigenetics, developmental biology, and environmental health.

Event organized as part of the ExposUM Institute, in collaboration with Mak’it, with support from MSH-SUD programs.