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The role of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in medical devices and delivery systems: Why the electrophysiologist should care
Summary
This review explains that PFAS chemicals span two distinct classes with very different risk profiles: small water-soluble compounds like PFOA and PFOS are environmental hazards, while fluoropolymers—a separate PFAS class—are essential components of medical devices and cardiac electrophysiology tools due to their unique physical properties.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of more than 12,000 chemicals, often referred to as “forever chemicals.” They fall into distinct classes with vastly different chemical, biological, and toxicologic properties. Small-molecule, water-soluble PFAS, such as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), are hazardous substances1 and are considered water and environmental contaminants by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Another class of PFAS, known as fluoropolymers, possesses unique qualities critical to medical devices and tools used in cardiac electrophysiology, the manufacturing processes of those tools and devices, and the procedural delivery of those devices.