Protect Your Customers from “Forever Chemicals”

Forever chemicals, known as PFAS, are a large family of man‑made chemicals (over 10,000 identified compounds) used worldwide in industrial processes and consumer products. They are called “forever chemicals” because they do not break down naturally, persist in the environment for decades, and can accumulate in human blood and organs over time.

What are PFAS
PFAS molecules are built with carbon–fluorine bonds, which are among the strongest bonds in chemistry. This makes them highly resistant to heat, water, and oil, which is why they have been used in products such as non‑stick cookware, stain‑resistant fabrics, waterproof clothing, and food packaging.

There are many categories of PFAS, but a key distinction is:
        Long‑chain PFAS: More prone to accumulate in the body; associated with the highest toxicity (e.g., PFOA, PFOS, PFNA, PFHxS).
        Short‑chain PFAS: Less bioaccumulative but still persistent and can convert into harmful long-chain compounds like PFOS or PFOA through metabolism in the human liver.

Health Risks of PFAS
Federal agencies, global health authorities and independent research have linked long‑term PFAS exposure to:
        Liver damage and elevated liver enzymes
        Thyroid and endocrine disruption
        Reduced immune response and vaccine effectiveness
        Increased risk of certain cancers (kidney, testicular)
        Developmental and reproductive effects
        Elevated cholesterol and cardiovascular stress

This is a concern for us as a beverage manufacturer because one of the primary exposure pathways of PFAS is drinking water.

How PFAS Enter Water
PFAS enter water supplies through municipal or industrial wastewater, infiltration into groundwater of PFAS-contaminated fertilizer biosolids, and landfill leachate from consumer products.

Conventional water treatment does not remove PFAS. Even advanced beverage processing systems—reverse osmosis, UV, and carbon filtration—can reduce PFAS but are not guaranteed to eliminate them completely.

PFAS Filtration at Nutrition Laboratories
The only reliable protection is PFAS-filtration stage such as the one we have added to our existing water purification system. It uses high‑selectivity resin that attracts and captures negatively charged PFAS molecules, both long‑chain and short-chain PFAS, and PFAS precursors.

This technology is used in environmental remediation, advanced municipal systems, and pharmaceutical‑grade purification. It provides a level of treatment that goes beyond standard beverage industry practices.

PFAS Testing and Verification
After installation, our treated water was tested by Eurofins Scientific, an internationally accredited laboratory. Results:

        No detectable long‑chain PFAS.   
        No detectable short‑chain PFAS.
        No detectable PFAS precursors.

This is the water we now use in all beverages produced at Nutrition Laboratories.