Toxicowatch is studying toxic substances like dioxins, PAH and PFAS near incinerators. For the analyses, a set of bioassays are applicated. Emerging issues are PFAS, the group of fluorinated 'for-ever chemicals'. Chemical analyses can only identify about 50 PFAS, while there is probably more than 10,000 present in the environment. ToxicoWatch uses the bioassay of FITC-T4 and PFAS-CALUX and finds high levels of PFAS in eggs and mosses. These bioassays have thyroid hormone suppression as a toxic endpoint and results are expressed in PFOA equivalency. The use of these bioassays is promising and gives a much more realistic insight into the actual toxic burdens of these highly hazardous substances.
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