Societal cost of ‘forever chemicals’ about $17.5tn across global economy – report

A woman wears a waterproof coat in the rain. PFAS are commonly used as waterproofing agents in clothing and textiles. Photograph: Edward Berthelot/Getty Images

The societal cost of using toxic PFAS or “forever chemicals” across the global economy totals about $17.5tn annually, a new analysis of the use of the dangerous compounds has found.

Meanwhile, the chemicals yield comparatively paltry profits for the world’s largest PFAS manufacturers – about $4bn annually.