New research has revealed that toilet paper from all over the world contained PFAS “forever chemicals.” The research also finds that waste flushed down the toilet and sent to sewage treatment plants may create significant source of water pollution.
21 major toilet paper brans in North America, western Eurpose, Africa, Central America, and South America were tested as part of the study, though, no brands were named.
Jake Thompson, the study’s lead author, suggested that there may be no avoiding PFAS in toilet paper after it was found that recycled and non-recycled toilet paper had the same amount of PFAS.
“I’m not rushing to change my toilet paper and I’m not saying that people should stop using or reduce the amount of toilet paper they use … The issue is that we’re identifying another source of PFAS, and it highlights that the chemicals are ubiquitous,” Thompson said.
Thompson continued by saying that the PFAS levels that were detected are low enough to think the chemicals are coming from the manufacturing process, attempting to prevent the paper pulp from sticking to the machinery.