Perfluorinated and polyfluorinated chemicals (PFAS) are persistent industrially produced compounds that can accumulate in the environment and organisms. Recently, they have increasingly become the subject of public debate due to potential health risks. Nevertheless, the majority of the population is not aware of PFAS. This is the result of the Consumer Monitor, a regular representative survey conducted by the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR). According to the survey, six out of ten respondents have not yet heard of PFAS. This was the first time that the Consumer Monitor had asked about the substances in consumer products. The frontrunners in terms of awareness of given health and consumer topics are "microplastics in food", "e-cigarettes" (95% each), "genetically modified food" (93%) and "antibiotic resistance" (92%). "The Consumer Monitor shows that awareness of and concern about certain consumer issues remain surprisingly stable over a long period of time," says BfR President Professor Andreas Hensel. "It also consistently shows that ‘man-made‘ risks are considered more dangerous than natural ones."