Home Safety / Compounds / Bisphenol AF (BPAF)

Bisphenol AF (BPAF) in your home: a safety profile

Moderate risk for your home

(Your Household-specific data is limited; this page draws from human adult context.) Bisphenol AF (BPAF; 4,4'-(hexafluoroisopropylidene)diphenol) is an industrial monomer and BPA structural analog used primarily as a building block in the synthesis of specialty fluoropolymers (polybenzimidazoles, polyamides, polyimides) for electronics and optical coatings, and in some dental sealants and composites. BPAF is not produced in comparable volumes to BPA and is not typically used as a food contact material plasticizer; however, it is among the most potent estrogenic bisphenol analogs identified — binding ERα with approximately 1.5–5× higher affinity than BPA in receptor competition assays, and showing potent ERβ agonism. BPAF has been detected in river water, sediments, and wastewater treatment plant effluents near fluoropolymer manufacturing facilities, and increasingly in human urine in populations near industrial sites and in occupationally exposed workers. No specific IARC classification. EPA's emerging chemical of concern reviews have flagged BPAF for priority evaluation. The combination of high estrogenic potency and increasing industrial release makes BPAF a high-priority surveillance target despite lower overall production volume than BPA.

What is bisphenol af (bpaf)?

The IUPAC name is 4-[1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)propan-2-yl]phenol.

Also known as: 4-[1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)propan-2-yl]phenol, Bisphenol AF, 2,2-Bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)hexafluoropropane, Hexafluorobisphenol a.

IUPAC name
4-[1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)propan-2-yl]phenol
CAS number
1478-61-1
Molecular formula
C15H10F6O2
Molecular weight
336.23 g/mol
SMILES
C1=CC(=CC=C1C(C2=CC=C(C=C2)O)(C(F)(F)F)C(F)(F)F)O
PubChem CID
73864

Risk for your household

Moderate risk

Bisphenol AF (BPAF; 4,4'-(hexafluoroisopropylidene)diphenol) is an industrial monomer and BPA structural analog used primarily as a building block in the synthesis of specialty fluoropolymers (polybenzimidazoles, polyamides, polyimides) for electronics and optical coatings, and in some dental sealants and composites. BPAF is not produced in comparable volumes to BPA and is not typically used as a food contact material plasticizer; however, it is among the most potent estrogenic bisphenol analogs identified — binding ERα with approximately 1.5–5× higher affinity than BPA in receptor competition assays, and showing potent ERβ agonism. BPAF has been detected in river water, sediments, and wastewater treatment plant effluents near fluoropolymer manufacturing facilities, and increasingly in human urine in populations near industrial sites and in occupationally exposed workers. No specific IARC classification. EPA's emerging chemical of concern reviews have flagged BPAF for priority evaluation. The combination of high estrogenic potency and increasing industrial release makes BPAF a high-priority surveillance target despite lower overall production volume than BPA.

Regulatory consensus

6 regulatory and scientific bodies have classified Bisphenol AF (BPAF). The classifications differ — that's the data.

AgencyYearClassificationNotes
EPA CTX / Genetox—Genotoxicity: negative (Ames: negative, 0 positive / 4 negative reports)
EPA CTX / Genetox—Genotoxicity: negative (Ames: negative, 0 positive / 4 negative reports)
EPA CTX / Skin-Eye—Eye Irritation: Category 6.4A (Category 2A) (score: high)
EPA CTX / Skin-Eye—skin irritation: in vivo: Studies Indicate No Significant Irritation (score: low)
EPA CTX / Skin-Eye—eye irritation: in vivo: Corrosive or Irritation Persists for > 21 days (score: very high)
EPA CTX / Skin-Eye—skin sensitisation: in vivo (non-LLNA): Not likely to be sensitizing (score: low)

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 your home encounter bisphenol af (bpaf)

  • Consumer Products — Plastic bottles and containers, Food packaging, Plastic toys and household items
  • Drinking Water — Leaching from plastic pipes, Migration from bottled water containers
  • Indoor Environments — Off-gassing from plastic furniture, Degradation of plastic products

Safer alternatives

Lower-risk approaches that achieve a similar outcome to Bisphenol AF (BPAF):

  • Calcium carbonate or kaolin fillers
    Trade-offs: Different performance characteristics than specialty fillers.
    Relative cost: 1.2-2×

Frequently asked questions

What products contain bisphenol af (bpaf)?

Bisphenol AF (BPAF) appears in: Plastic bottles and containers (Consumer products); Food packaging (Consumer products); Leaching from plastic pipes (Drinking water); Migration from bottled water containers (Drinking water); Off-gassing from plastic furniture (Indoor environments).

Why do regulators disagree about bisphenol af (bpaf)?

Bisphenol AF (BPAF) has been classified by 6 agencies including EPA CTX / Genetox, EPA CTX / Genetox, EPA CTX / Skin-Eye, EPA CTX / Skin-Eye, EPA CTX / Skin-Eye, with differing conclusions. 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. See the regulatory consensus table on this page for the full picture.

See Bisphenol AF (BPAF) in the home app

Look up products containing bisphenol af (bpaf), compare to alternatives, and explore the full data record.

Open in home View raw API data

Sources (2)
  1. US EPA: Bisphenol AF — CompTox Chemical Dashboard Assessment and Endocrine Disruption Screening (2020) — regulatory
  2. WHO/UNEP: State of the Science of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals — Emerging Bisphenol Analogs and Industrial EDC Burden (2012) — regulatory

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 →