Brains
Walk into any ski shop worth its salt, and you will be hit with that distinctive waxy ski shop smell. Built up from the waxing of thousands of pairs of skis over decades, that smell has recently been linked to significant long-term health effects for ski technicians. Ski waxes are made from a mixture of organic compounds with long alkyl chains, some of which are heavily fluorinated. Polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, have been receiving a great deal of scrutiny recently as more and more research links widespread environmental exposure to significant negative health outcomes. High-performance ski waxes can be made from up to 100% PFAS, creating a significant risk for ski technicians.
Hot waxing presents several opportunities for acute exposure to PFAS from ski wax, as was highlighted in a recent literature review from Middlebury College. Heating the wax to above its melting point releases volatile organic compounds, or compounds with relatively low boiling points. Mechanical scraping of the wax can also release aerosols and particulate matter, capable of further inhalation hazard. These risks have been known since at least 1992, and more recent studies have confirmed high levels of PFAS exposure in ski tuning work areas. The recent review highlighted that a host of studies have found that ski technicians have higher blood concentration of PFAS than any other occupation, including firefighters, known for their high levels of exposure from the use of PFAS containing fire suppressing foams.
Respiratory impacts, including acute pulmonary injury, decreased lung diffusion capacity, were identified early on as health risks associated with fluorinated ski waxes. As more data have come available from long-term health studies and animal studies, PFAS has been implicated in other serious health risks, including decreased immune function, liver disease, kidney disease, developmental impacts, and cancer. Early links to respiratory disease came from direct exposure to high concentrations of aerosols and particulate matter. More recent longer-term studies have identified negative health impacts from elevated levels of PFAS within the body, which can come from inhalation exposure, as well as lower dose routes like ingestion of contaminated water and food.
During skiing, PFAS can be transferred from skis to the environment, where they can accumulate in soil and water. A 2020 study from Colby College found significant levels of PFAS in snow, runoff water, and well water at a popular cross country ski area in Maine following a race. Soil testing months later after the spring melt and thaw found similar elevated levels of PFAS. Snowpacks from many ski areas feed water supply to major population centers, and could provide a route for exposure to elevated PFAS levels, though no studies have looked specifically at PFAS levels downstream from ski areas.
In response to growing concern over the environmental and health effects of fluorinated ski waxes, the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, or FIS, moved to ban fluorinated ski waxes starting in 2020. Testing and enforcement took a couple of years to work out, but as of the 2023-24 season, racers had their skis routinely tested for fluorinated ski wax, following competition. Several of the largest ski wax producers in the world, including Swix and Toko, stopped selling fluorinated ski waxes around 2020, and have been developing fluorine-free high-performance ski waxes ever since.
On a more individualized level, a 2022 study of Australian firefighters found that donating plasma or whole blood can decrease PFAS levels, even during continued occupational exposure. PFAS are thought to be able to bind to albumin, the most abundant protein in blood plasma, and donation of blood plasma or whole blood forces the body to replace those proteins. A similar study on methods to reduce blood concentration of PFAS just concluded at the University of Arizona, the results of which are forthcoming.
There are plenty of ski waxes on the market now that are completely fluorine free, with a few companies offering plant-based and biodegradable waxes. Ski wax is by far not the only source of PFAS exposure, and the long term health effects of these chemicals are still poorly understood. The ski industry as a whole has made a commendable move away from fluorinated ski waxes, as more information about their environmental and health effects has become available.
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Well done — but hard to read since body of text uses such light, gray-colored text….