standOff, and the article is at its publisher via the link below. When we have changed our mind. Some entries in the table begin with a word in capitals and the reason for it. EVIDENCE CORRECTED — the finding still stands, but we had quoted the wrong sentence from the paper, and the quotation has been replaced with the right one. RETRACTED — the entry itself was wrong; it stays on the page, marked, with the reason, rather than being deleted. WITHDRAWN AND REPLACED — the entry was wrong, and a corrected version of it appears in the entries below. Each mark carries its own reason, in brackets, because the reasons differ from one entry to the next. An entry we have WITHDRAWN is removed from this page and kept in the record, with its reason. A line reading Audit and a date is a later re-reading of the entry against its whole sentence: DOUBTFUL means it was kept, and the reason says what is loose about it. Quotation marks inside the tagger's sentence. Where a tag is the tagger's own sentence, a phrase in quotation marks inside it is borrowed from the paper — the tagger's wording around it is not. The paper's own sentence is the evidence quote for that row; on this page it is withheld with the article, and the article is at its publisher. Nothing inside quotation marks anywhere on this page is ours: if it is quoted, it is the paper's. Whose words a concept carries. A concept entry records a term the paper itself uses, so the term, the sense given for it, and its evidence are the paper's own words, quoted where the paper fixes them. This is the opposite of a sense entry in the tag table, which is the tagger's sentence about how the paper uses a term. Where a concept entry could not be grounded in the paper's words, the entry says so on its own row.| relation to other work | claim_relations | how this paper stands to another: agrees, contradicts, extends, qualifies |
| claim type | claim_type | the shape of the claim: existence, mechanism, method, critique, prediction, null |
| concept | concepts | an idea the paper works with, quoted where the paper uses it |
| content tag | content_tags | a finding, definition, quantity, statistic or variable named in the paper |
| contribution | contribution | what the paper claims to add |
| control | controls | an experiment run to eliminate a rival explanation |
| limitation | limitations | what the paper says its evidence cannot support |
| mechanism | mechanisms | how the reported effect is said to come about |
| method | method | how the paper produced its evidence |
| object of study | object_of_study | what the paper is about — the thing it investigates |
| phenomenon | phenomenon | the effect or regularity under study |
| research question | research_question | the question the paper sets itself |
| sense | senses | a distinct use of a term, quoted where the paper fixes it |
| transfer | transfers | a method or concept carried in from another field |
This record holds no relations between concepts. A layer is empty when the tagger recorded nothing in it — which is not the same as the paper having nothing to record.
| facet | tag | field | conf. | whose words |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| object_of_study | where per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances are used, what job they do there, and how much of what is knowable at all from the registers that record chemical use Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | object_of_study | the paper's words | |
| research_question | in which use categories PFAS have been employed and for which function, which individual substances, and whether the uses can be ranked by quantity Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | research_question | the paper's words | |
| contribution | more than 200 use categories and subcategories for more than 1400 individual PFAS - five times the previous standard compilation - with the function and the enabling property named for each, and every source's blind spot stated and where possible sized Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | contribution | the paper's words | |
| claim_type | existence Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | claim_type | the paper's words | |
| phenomenon | a class of thousands of extremely persistent substances used across almost every industry branch, whose extent cannot be established because the quantities are commercial secrets and the registers exempt whole categories Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | phenomenon | the paper's words | |
| method | review Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: review | method | the paper's words | |
| mechanisms | PFAS are 100 to 1000 times more expensive than hydrocarbon alternatives, so they are bought only where extreme stability, wide temperature range or very low surface energy are required. The carbon-fluorine bond supplies all three - and the same bond is why the substance does not degrade after the product is discarded. Utility and persistence are not correlated here, they are the same fact Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | mechanisms[0] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| mechanisms | every quantity in this paper comes from a register with a declared exclusion: a reporting threshold of 11.34 t at a single site, statutory exemptions for foodstuffs medicines and cosmetics, no duty to declare solid articles, and confidentiality over more than 80% of the volumes. The inventory is therefore a map of the disclosure regime, and the paper says so instead of presenting it as a map of use Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | mechanisms[1] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| mechanisms | PFAS membership has been defined three times, each wider or narrower in a different place, and every number in this literature - how many substances, how many uses, how much tonnage - is a number under one of them. The paper states which one it uses and exactly where it departs from the others Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | mechanisms[2] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| mechanisms | two voluntary programmes removed the best-known PFAS from two manufacturers' portfolios; other companies were not prevented from taking the market, enforcement was very limited, and substances that break down into the same acids remain in medical devices, apparel and semiconductor manufacture Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: substitution without regulation | mechanisms[3] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| limitations | the searches were not exhaustive in any source, and the authors say there are many more reports, studies, patents, safety data sheets and databases than those used Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | limitations[0] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| limitations | more than 80% of the volume entries in the US Chemical Data Reporting database are confidential, so the certainty of the quantity information is low Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | limitations[1] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| limitations | the extent of the uncertainty introduced by confidentiality in the SPIN database cannot be estimated from the available data and could be large Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | limitations[2] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| limitations | the Nordic data may not represent other regions - the registers exempt foodstuffs, medicines and cosmetics, and there is no PFAS or fluoropolymer production there Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | limitations[3] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| limitations | neither database covers PFAS in finished articles, which removes most of the manufacturing done outside the EU and US Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | limitations[4] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| limitations | seventy PFAS from the Chinese inventory are absent from this one because no information on their intended use was provided Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | limitations[5] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| limitations | some register categories were too broad to map onto the study's use categories, and those substances and their quantities were dropped Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | limitations[6] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| limitations | in 4% of cases the function of the PFAS could not be determined and in 21% the property needed to fulfil that function could not be determined Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | limitations[7] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| limitations | uses may be missing entirely - PFAS were found in climbing ropes and no information was found on climbing harnesses, and no industry interviews were possible Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | limitations[8] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| limitations | the coverage claim for the general use categories is qualitative, and subcategories are quite possibly missing Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | limitations[9] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| limitations | industrial blends can be 80% of the registered substance, so impurities, reaction by-products and degradation products are present alongside the intended PFAS Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | limitations[10] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| limitations | REACH data covering more countries were excluded because its tonnage bands attach to substances rather than to use categories - the wrong unit for this question Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | limitations[11] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| transfers | the essential-use test, carried from the Montreal Protocol's ozone regime into chemicals policy, where the question becomes which uses of a persistent substance justify themselves rather than whether the substance is harmful Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | transfers[0] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| transfers | suspect-screening by accurate mass spectrometry, supplied here with a list of exact monoisotopic masses per use category so that a laboratory can look for substances nobody has yet measured Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | transfers[1] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| controls | commercial market reports excluded from the study entirely, although they cover the quantities the study most wants Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. eliminates: an unverifiable figure entering the inventory - the reports do not state their sources, so a number taken from one could not be checked by anyone, including the authors · outcome: held | controls[0] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| controls | REACH data excluded, despite covering more countries than the Nordic registers used, because its tonnage bands attach to substances and not to use categories Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. eliminates: a quantity reported against the wrong denominator being read as a use-category quantity - only single-use substances would have been informative and the rest would have carried invented precision · outcome: held | controls[1] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| controls | every substance-use link labelled by the KIND of evidence behind it - P for patent, D for analytically detected, U for a reported use - and the three shares reported Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. eliminates: a patented possibility and an observed use counting as the same fact; 42% of the 2400 links are patents and the reader is told which · outcome: held | controls[2] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| controls | the study's own use categories compared against the independently built SPIN category list, to test whether whole categories had been missed Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. eliminates: the compilation's coverage resting on the compilers' own imagination - an external classification is asked what it has that this one does not, and it had three · outcome: partial | controls[3] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| controls | the count of substances stated as a count of what this search found, next to the figure a reader would otherwise take it for Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. eliminates: the study's own reach being read as the size of the market - said before the numbers rather than after them · outcome: held | controls[4] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| controls | two use categories reported with NO substances identified rather than dropped - ammunition and the nuclear industry Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. eliminates: a category disappearing because the search failed in it; the empty result is printed where a reader can see which categories it applies to · outcome: held | controls[5] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| controls | the 11.34 t single-site reporting threshold under TSCA, below which no substance appears in the volume data at all Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. eliminates: substances below the 11.34 t single-site threshold - they do not appear in the volume data at all, so the totals are a floor and not an estimate · outcome (stated by the tagger, no quotation): absent-declared-unreported | controls[6] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| controls | the statutory exemptions in the Nordic registers - foodstuffs, medicinal products, cosmetics, solid articles, and anything under 0.1 t per year Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. eliminates: products under the statutory exemptions - foodstuffs, medicinal products, cosmetics, solid articles and anything under 0.1 t a year are absent from the Nordic registers by law · outcome (stated by the tagger, no quotation): absent-declared-unreported | controls[7] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| concepts | PFAS Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: PFAS | concepts[0] | 0.95 | the paper's words |
| concepts | persistent Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: persistent | concepts[1] | 0.95 | the paper's words |
| concepts | CBI Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: CBI | concepts[2] | 0.95 | the paper's words |
| concepts | SPIN database Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: SPIN database | concepts[3] | 0.95 | the paper's words |
| concepts | patents Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: patents | concepts[4] | 0.95 | the paper's words |
| concepts | use categories Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: use categories | concepts[5] | 0.95 | the paper's words |
| concepts | articles Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: articles | concepts[6] | 0.95 | the paper's words |
| concepts | essential uses Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: essential uses | concepts[7] | 0.95 | the paper's words |
| concepts | fluorosurfactants Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: fluorosurfactants | concepts[8] | 0.95 | the paper's words |
| concepts | PTFE Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: PTFE | concepts[9] | 0.95 | the paper's words |
| senses | what counts as a PFAS - UNDER BUCK ET AL. 2011: aliphatic substances with the -CnF2n+1 moiety, n at least 1 Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | senses[0] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| senses | what counts as a PFAS - UNDER THE OECD/UNEP PROPOSAL: also substances containing -CnF2n-, on grounds of structural similarity Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | senses[1] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| senses | what counts as a PFAS - IN THIS STUDY: the OECD position plus both-ended perfluorocarbon chains, side-chain aromatics and fluorinated cycloaliphatics, minus non-polymers carrying only -CF3 or -CF2- except the ethers. The 1400 is a count under this one Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | senses[2] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| senses | the number of PFAS per use category - AS THE PAPER MEANS IT: what this search identified Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | senses[3] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| senses | the number of PFAS per use category - AS IT WILL BE READ: the number on the market for that use, which the authors say explicitly it is not Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | senses[4] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| senses | a link between a PFAS and a use - FROM A PATENT: 42% of the 2400 links, and a patent shows a substance may be used, not that it is Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | senses[5] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| senses | a link between a PFAS and a use - FROM AN ANALYTICAL DETECTION: 27%, and a detected substance may be an impurity or a degradation product rather than an ingredient Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | senses[6] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| claim_relations | extends → Kissa (2001), the standard monograph on PFAS as surfactants and repellents, which listed 39 use categories mostly from patents and is nearly twenty years old - this study finds five times as many uses Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | claim_relations[0] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| claim_relations | critiques → confidential business information as it operates under TSCA - it leaves even regulators without volumes, use categories or substance identities, which limits their ability to assess and prevent harm Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | claim_relations[1] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| claim_relations | critiques → the voluntary phase-outs of PFOS- and PFOA-related substances, which other companies were not prevented from succeeding to and which saw very limited enforcement Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | claim_relations[2] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| claim_relations | qualifies → its own inventory - not exhaustive, bounded by every register's exclusions, with 4% of functions and 21% of enabling properties undetermined Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | claim_relations[3] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| claim_relations | extends → the Montreal Protocol's essential-use concept, argued here in its default-deny form: treat every use as non-essential unless a case is made, with a sunset clause on those accepted Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | claim_relations[4] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| content_tags | more than 200 uses in 64 categories were identified for more than 1400 individual PFAS - five times the uses in the standard previous compilation Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | content_tags.findings[0] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| content_tags | the count of substances is a count of what this search found and explicitly not the number on the market, and the authors say so before giving the numbers Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | content_tags.findings[1] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| content_tags | Much of the US volume data is confidential, and the resulting uncertainty cannot be estimated from available data. Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | content_tags.findings[2] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| content_tags | Around 42% of the 2400 substance-use links come from patents. Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | content_tags.findings[3] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| content_tags | two categories - ammunition and the nuclear industry - are reported with no substances identified rather than being dropped Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | content_tags.findings[4] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| content_tags | the function of the PFAS could not be determined in 4% of cases and the enabling property in 21% Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | content_tags.findings[5] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| content_tags | two substances account for 75% of PFAS quantity in the Nordic registers, because they are the product rather than an additive Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | content_tags.findings[6] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| content_tags | substances that break down into PFOA and PFOS remain in use in medical device coatings, apparel, pharmaceutical equipment and semiconductor manufacture after the voluntary phase-outs Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | content_tags.findings[7] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| content_tags | a single cell phone contains fluoropolymer wiring, PFAS in the circuit boards and a fluoropolymer screen coating - three applications in one product Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | content_tags.findings[8] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| content_tags | defined by Buck et al. (2011) as aliphatic substances with the -CnF2n+1 moiety; widened by the OECD/UNEP group to include -CnF2n-; and widened again here to both-ended chains, side-chain aromatics and cycloaliphatics Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: PFAS | content_tags.definitions[0] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| content_tags | confidential business information - the status of more than 80% of the volume entries in the US Chemical Data Reporting database Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: CBI | content_tags.definitions[1] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| content_tags | individual PFAS with an identified use - a count under this study's definition, which is wider than Buck 2011 in three ways and narrower in one Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. value source note: THE DESCRIPTION DRAWS ON THE PAPER BEYOND THIS QUOTE: the comparison with Buck et al. (2011) is in the methods ('In contrast to the definition by Buck et al. (2011)…'). | content_tags.quantities[0] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| content_tags | of the volume entries in the US Chemical Data Reporting database are confidential business information Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | content_tags.quantities[1] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| content_tags | metric tons at a single site - the TSCA reporting threshold, below which a substance does not appear at all Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | content_tags.quantities[2] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| content_tags | of cases where the property enabling the PFAS function could not be determined - against 4% where the function itself could not Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | content_tags.quantities[3] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| content_tags | of all PFAS quantity in the Nordic registers is two substances - PTFE and one refrigerant gas - because they are products rather than additives Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | content_tags.quantities[4] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| content_tags | of the 2400 substance-use links come from patents, against 27% from analytical detection and 31% from reported uses Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. | content_tags.quantities[5] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| content_tags | use categories Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: use categories | content_tags.variables[0] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
| content_tags | CBI Quotation withheld — this record is not cleared for redistribution. The sentence is in the paper at the link above. also in: CBI | content_tags.variables[1] | 0.95 | the tagger's words |
Tags that could not be placed in the text:
What was deliberately not tagged, and why, is recorded per paper by the tagger. Where a paper has no such record, this page says so rather than implying that nothing was declined.