PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals’ Disrupt Biological Processes in Developing Adolescents, First-of-Its-Kind Study Discovers

Exposure to a whole soup of toxic forever chemicals can disrupt biological processes in children and young adults in a way that puts them at risk from diseases like cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular ailments.

That’s the “surprising” finding of a first-of-its-kind study from researchers at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine, published in Environmental Health Perspectives Wednesday, that has important implications for how per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) should be regulated. 

“We are really only beginning to understand the range of effects that these chemicals have on human health,” study co-author and Keck School professor of population and public health sciences Leda Chatzi, M.D., Ph.D., said in a press release emailed to EcoWatch. “While current interventions have focused on phasing out the use of individual PFAS, such as PFOS and PFOA, this research shows why the focus should be on reducing exposure to all PFAS chemicals.”

PFAS are a class of thousands of chemicals that have been used in manufacturing since the 1940s. They are commonly found in firefighting foam and nonstick or waterproof products, to name a few. They are also widely dispersed in the environment and the human body, where some have a half-life as long as 25 years. It is estimated that 200 million U.S. residents use drinking water contaminated with levels of perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) or perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) — two of the most common and dangerous PFAS — above the new health advisory set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2022. Furthermore, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that, since 1999, the PFAS PFOS, PFOA, perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS) and perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) have shown up in the blood serum of nearly everyone 12 and older who the agency tested. 

Read More: https://www.ecowatch.com/pfas-forever-chemicals-biology-adolescents.html