Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a highly persistent and potentially toxic class of chemicals, are added to cosmetics to increase their durability and water resistance. To assess this potential health and environmental risk, 231 cosmetic products purchased in the U.S. and Canada were screened for total fluorine using particle-induced gamma-ray emission spectroscopy. Of the eight categories tested, foundations, mascaras, and lip products had the highest proportion of products with high total fluorine ≥0.384 μg F/cm2. Twenty-nine products including 20 with high total fluorine concentrations were analyzed using targeted LC-MS/MS and GC-MS. PFAS concentrations ranged from 22–10,500 ng/g product weight, with an average and a median of 264 and 1050 ng/g product weights, respectively. Here, 6:2 and 8:2 fluorotelomer compounds, including alcohols, methacrylates, and phosphate esters, were most commonly detected. These compounds are precursors to PFCAs that are known to be harmful. The ingredient lists of most products tested did not disclose the presence of fluorinated compounds exposing a gap in U.S. and Canadian labeling laws. The manufacture, use, and disposal of cosmetics containing PFAS are all potential opportunities for health and ecosystem harm. Given their direct exposure routes into people, better regulation is needed to limit the widespread use of PFAS in cosmetics.

Occupational exposure to aqueous film-forming foams (AFFF) can lead to elevated concentrations of per-and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) in firefighter blood sera. AFFF are also one exposure source of PFAS in the general population because of their environmental persistence and solubility in groundwater. Because of the documented adverse health effects of PFAS, the primary concern to date in the fire services has centered on repeated use and exposure to AFFF. In this work, an additional PFAS exposure source for firefighters is presented: PFAS that are shed from their protective clothing. Textiles used as firefighter turnout gear were found to have high levels of total fluorine (up to 2%), and individual PFAS were identified and measured on new and used firefighting turnout gear. Used gear showed lower levels of PFAS as well as an increased migration into untreated material. A dust measurement from a textile storage area also suggests direct loss of PFAS from the fluoropolymers in the textiles. Because PFAS that are shed from the textiles used in turnout gear are more mobile, they represent another viable exposure source for firefighters that warrants further study.

Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) represent a class of more than 4000 compounds. Their large number and structural diversity pose a considerable challenge to analytical chemists. Measurement of total fluorine in environmental samples and consumer products is therefore critical for rapidly screening for PFASs and for assessing the fraction of unexplained fluorine(i.e., fluorine mass balance). Here we compare three emerging analytical techniques for total fluorine determination: combustion ion chromatography (CIC), particle-induced γ-ray emission spectroscopy (PIGE), and instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). Application of each method to a certified reference material (CRM), spiked filters, and representative food packaging samples revealed good accuracy and precision. INAA and PIGE had the advantage of being nondestructive, while CIC displayed the lowest detection limits. Inconsistencies between the methods arose due to the high aluminum content in the CRM, which precluded its analysis by INAA, and sample heterogeneity (i.e., coating on the surface of the material), which resulted in higher values from the surface measurement technique PIGE compared to the values from the bulk volume techniques INAA and CIC. Comparing CIC-based extractable organic fluorine to target PFAS measurements of food packaging samples by liquid chromatography− tandem mass spectrometry revealed large amounts of unidentified organic fluorine not captured by compound-specific analysis.

The JET 2019-2020 scientific and technological programme exploited the results of years of concerted scientific and engineering work, including the ITER-like wall (ILW: Be wall and W divertor) installed in 2010, improved diagnostic capabilities now fully available, a major Neutral Beam Injection (NBI) upgrade providing record power in 2019-2020, and tested the technical & procedural preparation for safe operation with tritium. Research along three complementary axes yielded a wealth of new results. Firstly, the JET plasma programme delivered scenarios suitable for high fusion power and alpha particle physics in the coming D-T campaign (DTE2), with record sustained neutron rates, as well as plasmas for clarifying the impact of isotope mass on plasma core, edge and plasma-wall interactions, and for ITER pre-fusion power operation. The efficacy of the newly installed Shattered Pellet Injector for mitigating disruption forces and runaway electrons was demonstrated. Secondly, research on the consequences of long-term exposure to JET-ILW plasma was completed, with emphasis on wall damage and fuel retention, and with analyses of wall materials and dust particles that will help validate assumptions and codes for design & operation of ITER and DEMO. Thirdly, the nuclear technology programme aiming to deliver maximum technological return from operations in D, T and D-T benefited from the highest D-D neutron yield in years, securing results for validating radiation transport and activation codes, and nuclear data for ITER.

A power-balance model, with radiation losses from impurities and neutrals, gives a unified description of the density limit (DL) of the stellarator, the L-mode tokamak, and the reversed field pinch (RFP). The model predicts a Sudo-like scaling for the stellarator, a Greenwald-like scaling, , for the RFP and the ohmic tokamak, a mixed scaling, , for the additionally heated L-mode tokamak. In a previous paper (Zanca et al 2017 Nucl. Fusion 57 056010) the model was compared with ohmic tokamak, RFP and stellarator experiments. Here, we address the issue of the DL dependence on heating power in the L-mode tokamak. Experimental data from high-density disrupted L-mode discharges performed at JET, as well as in other machines, are taken as a term of comparison. The model fits the observed maximum densities better than the pure Greenwald limit.