3 minute read
After reading this story you will learn:
- “Forever Chemicals” Like PFAS, medium-chain chlorinated paraffins (MCCPs), commonly found in textiles and PVC products, are toxins that take a long time to break down in the environment and can have negative effects on human health.
- In 2025, scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder first detected these toxins in North American air while studying aerosol formation.
- These airborne MCCP particles may have entered the atmosphere through biosolids, which are fertilizers developed from treated wastewater.
One of the downsides of modern life is the prevalence of chemicals in the natural environment. Perhaps the most well-known of these chemicals are per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which are used in things like nonstick surfaces on frying pans. These are also known as “permanent chemicals” because they tend to persist in the environment.
But this environmental disaster is just one of many similar substances. Of most concern among other toxins is a type of toxin known as medium-chain chlorinated paraffin (MCCP). Like PFAS, these chemicals take a long time to break down and have been shown to cause health problems such as liver and kidney toxicity, thyroid dysfunction, and certain neurological problems. MCCP has been detected in the atmosphere of other continents (including Asia and Antarctica), but a 2025 study from the University of Colorado Boulder claims North America has joined that unfortunate list.
A team of scientists who conducted this recent study to detect how aerosols form and grow in Oklahoma’s agricultural regions accidentally discovered the presence of trace amounts of MCCP in the atmosphere. They detected these particles using a technique known as nitrate chemical ionization mass spectrometry, and their results were published in the journal. ACS Environment AU.
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MCCP begins its life in metalworking fluids, textiles, PVC, etc. and is therefore often encountered in wastewater. This is a problem because fertilizers known as biosolids (made from treated sewage sludge) are often spread across crops.
“When sewage sludge is spread over fields, its toxic compounds can be released into the air,” Daniel Katz, lead author of the study, said in a press statement. “While we can’t directly show that that’s happening, we think it’s a reasonable possibility that they’re being kicked up into the air. Fertilizers in sewage sludge have been shown to release similar compounds.”
The production of this synthetic chemical is primarily due to the regulation of its toxic relatives, short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs), which are regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Stockholm Convention, an international organization established in 2001 to protect human health from persistent organic pollutants.
In 2025, the Stockholm Convention will also eliminate MCCP globally. No one knows whether this will lead to new creations or not. another But this regulatory game of whack-a-mole resembles a true Sisyphean mission to eliminate PFAS from the environment.
“There is always an unintended consequence of regulation, where you regulate something and there is still demand for the product that contained that regulation,” study co-author Ellie Brown said in a press statement. “So they’re being replaced by something else.”
Fortunately, there is good news. The Oklahoma Senate passed a bill to ban biosolids as fertilizer in 2025, and a newly formed environmental group called the Sludge-Free Land Coalition aims to make the ban nationwide (the EPA currently regulates the substance, but does not ban it). Now that MCCP has been discovered in the atmosphere, the team at the University of California, Boulder hopes that future efforts will allow them to discern its effects in the air.
“We’ve identified them, but we still don’t know exactly what they do in the atmosphere. Further research is needed,” Katz said in a press statement. “I think it’s important that we continue to have government agencies that can evaluate the science and regulate these chemicals as necessary for public health and safety.”
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Darren lives in Portland and has a cat. I write/edit about science fiction and how the world works. If you look hard enough, you can find his previous articles on Gizmodo and Paste.
