What happens when the chemicals in our everyday products end up in our food, bodies, and ecosystems?

On this page, you can discover how Team Forever Chemicals investigates the hidden impacts of PFAS — and what we can do about it.

Forever chemicals (poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances – PFAS) are synthetic compounds found in everyday products like food packaging, fire extinguishers, pesticides, and textiles such as GoreTex. These chemicals are extremely stable, persist in the environment, and have been detected in human blood and breast milk. Exposure to PFAS is linked to immune system disruption, liver toxicity, cancer, and, more recently, plant contamination, raising concerns for the entire food chain.

At Team Forever Chemicals, we address this complex challenge through a One Health perspective — considering how PFAS affect plants, animals, and humans, and how these systems are interconnected. We explore how PFAS exposure impacts plant health and whether plants can transform these chemicals into new, unknown substances. To understand the wider consequences, we investigate how eating PFAS-contaminated plants affects gut health in mice, neurological responses in fish, and immune function in humans.

Tackling the effects of forever chemicals requires true interdisciplinary collaboration. Our team brings together plant biologists, animal physiologists, human immunologists, ecotoxicologists, neuroscientists, and analytical chemists from Norway, the Netherlands, and Belgium, working together to create new knowledge and solutions.

Are you interested in learning more, collaborating with us, or looking for an expert on forever chemicals? Please get in touch - we are happy to share our insights and findings.