How silicone wristbands can help scientists monitor ‘forever chemicals’

These noninvasive tools absorb chemicals from the surrounding environment over time, showing how people encounter harmful substances in everyday settings.

[Photo: Morumotto/Adobe Stock]

Every morning, people fasten their watch, slip on a bracelet, and head out the door without thinking much about what they might encounter along the way. The air they breathe, the dust on their hands, and the surfaces they touch all feel ordinary. Yet many chemical exposures happen quietly, without smell, taste, or warning.

What if something as simple as a silicone band around your wrist could help track those invisible exposures?

Environmental monitoring has traditionally relied on snapshots of exposure from a water sample collected on a single day, a blood sample drawn at one point in time, or soil tested from a specific location. But exposure unfolds gradually as people move through different environments and come into contact with air, dust, and surfaces throughout the day.

New noninvasive monitoring tools aim to capture that longer-term picture.

As synthetic chemicals such as “forever chemicals,” known as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), become more widespread in everyday environments, scientists are increasingly focused on understanding how exposure to these substances occurs in daily life.

PFAS are called forever chemicals because they take a very long time to degrade in the environment.

Traditional monitoring misses everyday reality

Traditional monitoring methods are essential for identifying contamination, but they capture exposure as a moment rather than something that unfolds over time.

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