Food & Drink / Compounds / PFPeA (Perfluoropentanoic acid)

PFPeA (Perfluoropentanoic acid) in food: ingestion safety

Moderate risk

(People-specific data is limited; this page draws from human adult context.) Short-chain PFAS with shorter biological half-life (~30 days) than legacy PFAS. Liver toxicity in animal models. Thyroid hormone disruption reported. Detected in human blood in general population studies.

What is pfpea (perfluoropentanoic acid)?

The IUPAC name is 2,2,3,3,4,4,5,5,6,6,6-undecafluorohexanoic acid.

Also known as: Perfluorohexanoic acid, 307-24-4, Undecafluorohexanoic acid, Hexanoic acid, undecafluoro-.

IUPAC name
2,2,3,3,4,4,5,5,6,6,6-undecafluorohexanoic acid
CAS number
2706-90-3
Molecular formula
C6HF11O2
Molecular weight
314.05 g/mol
SMILES
C(=O)(C(C(C(C(C(F)(F)F)(F)F)(F)F)(F)F)(F)F)O
PubChem CID
67542

Risk for people

Moderate risk

Short-chain PFAS with shorter biological half-life (~30 days) than legacy PFAS. Liver toxicity in animal models. Thyroid hormone disruption reported. Detected in human blood in general population studies.

Regulatory consensus

2 regulatory and scientific bodies have classified PFPeA (Perfluoropentanoic acid). The classifications differ — that's the data.

AgencyYearClassificationNotes
EPA——Included in EPA's 5th Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (2023-2025)
ECHA——Included in universal PFAS restriction proposal (2023)

Regulators apply different standards of evidence — animal-data weighting, exposure-pattern assumptions, epidemiological power thresholds — which is why two scientific bodies can review the same data and reach different conclusions. The disagreement is the data.

Where you encounter pfpea (perfluoropentanoic acid)

  • Drinking Water — Municipal water supplies near fluorochemical manufacturing, Groundwater near AFFF-impacted sites
    Detected in >10% of US public water systems in EPA UCMR5 (2023-2025)
  • Food Packaging — Grease-resistant food wrappers, Microwave popcorn bags, Fast food containers
    Short-chain replacement in food-contact paper coatings
  • Industrial Discharge — Fluoropolymer manufacturing wastewater, Chrome plating effluent
    WWTP effluent is a major source

Safer alternatives

Lower-risk approaches that achieve a similar outcome to PFPeA (Perfluoropentanoic acid):

  • Non-fluorinated grease barriers (wax, silicone)
    Trade-offs: Functional performance and cost-effectiveness may vary by application.
    Relative cost: 1.2-2×
  • Activated carbon or ion exchange water treatment
    Trade-offs: Functional performance and cost-effectiveness may vary by application.
    Relative cost: 1.2-2×

Frequently asked questions

What products contain pfpea (perfluoropentanoic acid)?

PFPeA (Perfluoropentanoic acid) appears in: Municipal water supplies near fluorochemical manufacturing (drinking water); Groundwater near AFFF-impacted sites (drinking water); Grease-resistant food wrappers (food packaging); Microwave popcorn bags (food packaging); Fluoropolymer manufacturing wastewater (industrial discharge).

See PFPeA (Perfluoropentanoic acid) in the food app

Look up products containing pfpea (perfluoropentanoic acid), compare to alternatives, and explore the full data record.

Open in food View raw API data

Sources (1)
  1. — expert_curation

Reference data, not professional advice. Aggregates publicly available regulatory and scientific data; not a substitute for veterinary, medical, legal, or regulatory advice. Why we built ALETHEIA →