“Forever chemicals” found in tap water, food packaging and shampoo may explain an explosion of illnesses among young people, a study warns.
New research shows that these toxic substances damage the microbiome, the delicate protective balance of bacteria in the gut.
People with higher levels of these chemicals, called perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), had lower levels of gut bacteria that prevent inflammation, which has been linked to diseases such as colon cancer.
In addition to examining the microbiome, the researchers tested how healthy the participants’ kidneys were years later. They found that the permanent chemicals may have been responsible for up to a 50 percent decline in kidney function over a four-year period.
PFAS, always called chemicals because they do not break down in our bodies or the environment, have been used in manufacturing since the 1940s to make products that are stain, grease, and water resistant.
But research linking the chemicals to immune system problems, pregnancy complications, and kidney and testicular cancer has been increasing.
This comes as researchers elsewhere consider the gut as one of the possible causes behind the rise in colon cancer in young people, and the number of people under 55 being diagnosed with this cancer has almost doubled in the last 25 years.
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Meanwhile, a 2024 study showed that more than 70 million Americans may live in homes with drinking water contaminated with PFAS.
This year, the EPA created a law requiring public drinking water systems to begin testing and limiting water for PFAS by 2025.
Apart from water, the CDC says Someone can be exposed to permanent chemicals by eating food made near PFAS factories, eating fish caught in water contaminated with PFAS, or breathing contaminated soil or dust.
According to the EPA, long-term exposure to PFAS can lead to an increased risk of prostate, kidney and testicular cancer, developmental delays in children, decreased fertility in women, and disruption of the body’s hormonal balance.
Kidney damage has been one of the most widely accepted side effects of PFAS exposure, and scientists like Professor Jesse Goodrich
Professor Goodrich, whose research was published in the journal Total Environmental ScienceThey are trying to explain why.
Professor Goodrich, of the University of Southern California, He told The Guardian: “Along with these metabolic diseases comes an increased risk of diabetes or chronic kidney disease, and this is one of the fastest growing causes of mortality in the US, so it’s a really important question.”
Their study included 78 people with an average age of 20 who lived near USC and who did not have conditions that already interfered with their gut, such as obesity, diabetes or infections.
They took stool and blood samples in 2014 to check their baseline gut health and PFAS levels. They gave each person a PFAS burden score, a number developed to estimate exposure to chemical mixtures.
Then in 2018, they took samples again to measure his kidney function. People with higher levels of PFAS in their blood had lower levels of a bacteria called Lachnospiraceae, which previous studies have shown reduces inflammation and prevents kidney disease, the study authors wrote.
They found that people who had a higher concentration of PFAS tended to have lower kidney function in subsequent years. For every increase in their PFAS burden score, their kidney function decreased by about 2.4 percent.
The cities depicted on the map are just a few of many that have been identified as having higher concentrations of PFAS in public water supplies and private wells.
PFAS in drinking water can come from residual runoff from the production of water-, stain-, and grease-resistant items. The EPA took action to force utilities to start treating water for these chemicals by 2025.
Decreased kidney function can lead to chronic kidney disease, a condition in which the kidneys slowly stop removing waste from the blood, causing a dangerous buildup of toxic fluid that can lead to the shutdown of important organ systems. according to the mayo clinic.
Professor Goodrich said experts still don’t know for sure how PFAS cause kidney damage, but it appears it could have to do with disrupting gut function.
It is already known that bacteria in the intestine produce chemicals that can overwhelm or support the kidneys, and that appear to play a role in regulating inflammation in the organs.
Professor Goodrich warned that his study had limitations: because it was conducted with such a small sample, it is difficult to know whether its findings will apply to the broader population.
But this is not the only study investigating the impact of PFAS on bodily functions.
The chemicals have also been shown to weaken the immune system, making it difficult for the body to defend itself against infections, according to research by Northeastern Universitywhich could have implications throughout the body.
A study from 2023 at the Yale School of Public Health found that two PFAS chemicals caused colon cancer cells to grow and spread more quickly. This can lead to more deadly cancer and suggests that exposure to these chemicals can lead to the development of colon cancer.
Studies conducted on firefighters, who are exposed to PFAS chemicals burned in firefighting foam, have shown that they have an increased risk of colorectal cancer. Jie Zheng, an epidemiologist at Yale, said.
It has also been suggested that up to 80 percent of all colorectal cancer cases are related to some type of external factor, such as chemical exposure.