Toxicity of perfluorinated hydrocarbons

Perfluorinated hydrocarbons are manmade chemicals used to make fluoropolymer coatings and products resistant to stains, oil, heat and water. Perfluorinated compounds such as perfluorooctane acid (PFOA) perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) have been recognized as emerging environmental pollutants due to their persistance and ubiquity in the environment, biota and also humans. This paper focuses on toxicity of perfluorinated hydrocarbons, mainly PFOS and PFOA. A special attention is given to mechanism of toxicity of perfluorinated compounds, which have not yet been fully elucidated. Further studies should be performed to reveal the environmental risk assessment and mechanism of toxicity of perfluorinated compounds