Poly- and per-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the African environments: progress, challenges, and future...

Per- or poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of anthropogenic compounds that are used in a variety of industrial processes and consumer products with their ubiquitous presence in the environment recently gaining relevant attention. Progress and milestones on PFAS contamination within multiple environments from African continent are highlighted in this review. Identification and quantitation of PFAS within African environments is important to the public at large because of their toxicity and possible ecotoxicological risk. Two most studied classes of PFAS are perfluoro carboxylic acid (PFCA) (i.e., perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA)) and perfluoro sulfonic acid (PFSA) (i.e., perfluoro sulfonic acid (PFOS)) with many more classes of PFAS been created by industry. Within the African continent, studies reported PFAS in water, sediments, soils, fish, dust, breastmilk, infant formulae, dust, atmosphere, marine species and wildlife. Southern Africa contributed more studies on the presence of PFAS in the environment with Central Africa contributing the least. Despite growing awareness of PFAS contamination in Africa, the number of studies, studied compounds, and concentration levels vary significantly across regions and matrices. While some countries in Southern and Western Africa have made progress in PFAS research, the overall disparity in research output highlights the urgency for increased attention, resources, and concerted efforts to comprehensively address PFAS contamination. This review also revealed PFAS contamination within freshwater environments, with non-existent data from marine water environments. Collaboration among scientists, policymakers, industry players as well as regional and international communities are essential to mitigate the impact of PFAS in the African environment.