PFAS in ski wax: Despite bans, these forever chemicals linger in wax rooms, study shows – so does their health risk |
For more than 30 years, manufacturers of ski and snowboard waxes used PFAS – per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – to make skis and snowboards glide faster over snow. These synthetic chemicals were highly effective and common in competitive racing just about everywhere.
Then studies began finding PFAS in human bodies, and research suggested the chemicals could harm human health.
In response, racing groups such as the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, as well as venues like the Craftsbury Outdoor Center in Vermont and municipalities like Park City, Utah, banned these fluorinated – or “fluoro” – waxes. Bans, coupled with evolving regulations on PFAS, generally mean fluoro waxes have largely been phased out of production.
But the PFAS problem isn’t gone.
New research I conducted with colleagues tells a cautionary tale of how difficult it is to remove these “forever chemicals” from the environment and what happens after they are banned, particularly when people like the benefits PFAS chemicals bring to products.
The problem with PFAS
There’s a good chance you’ve encountered PFAS in many parts of your life.
This large group of as many as 15,000 individual compounds are used extensively in consumer products, medical devices, emergency response equipment and industrial processes. They help rain gear repel water and some food wrappers repel grease. They’re used in firefighting foam and for heat resistance.
From the late 1980s through the early 2020s, PFAS were also added to many – but not all – types of ski wax.
In general, waxes are used to make skis perform better in specific snow conditions, such as........