Archive: https://archive.today/wElmK From the post: >>A team of international scientists has invented a substitute for synthetic chemicals, called PFAS (perfluoroalkyl substances), which are widely used in everyday products despite being hazardous to health and the environment. Until now, it was believed fluorine—the element in such products which forms a highly effective barrier between substances like air and water, making them water repellent—could not easily be replaced because of its unique properties. But scientists from the University of Bristol in the US, Hirosaki University, Japan, and Université Côte d'Azur, France, have discovered that the unique "bulky" attribute of fluorine, which makes it especially good at filling space, can actually be replicated in a different, non-toxic form. The findings are published in the Journal of Colloid and Interface Science.