Everywhere and everlasting: How PFAS affect the human body

Most likely, you’re aware of PFAS. Or at least your bloodstream is, considering that the chemicals have been detected in 98% of Americans, according to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are chemicals known for their versatility and persistent nature. This is due to strong carbon-fluorine bonds, NBC reported, which then creates the opportunity for PFAS to accumulate in the human body.

The most common contaminated consumables and items include “drinking water, soil and water at or near waste sites, fire extinguishing foam, food, food packaging, household products and dust, personal care products, biosolids and manufacturing or chemical production facilities that produce or use PFAS,” according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Humans are susceptible to exposure via drinking, eating and breathing PFAS, the EPA said.

If exposed, observed effects on the human body are numerous.

Dr. Catherine Karr studies these effects as an environmental epidemiologist and pediatric environmental medicine specialist at the University of Washington. She is involved with the National Institutes of Health and holds an MD, as well as a PhD in the field.

When it comes to how PFAS affect the human body, she said, studies are not perfect. The “current understanding” comes “from animal toxicity studies (experimental studies) and observational studies of humans.” It’s difficult to conduct entirely sound research on humans, since the exact “amount” of PFAS to which a person is exposed is often unclear.

Scientists do know a handful of the effects, according to Karr. Those include “increased cholesterol levels, decreased birth weights, decreased immune response to vaccines, increased blood pressure problems during pregnancy, increased risk of thyroid disease, changes in liver enzymes that indicate liver damage and increased risk of testicular and kidney cancer.”

The chemicals are able to transfer through the placenta and breast milk, Karr said. Young people, too, are vulnerable, because they “consume more water, food, air, dust/soil on a per-pound basis than adults, so if PFAS contamination occurs in these media, children are at a risk of getting a higher dose.”

When it comes to diagnosing or associating symptoms and illnesses with exposure to PFAS, physicians are presented with a challenge. That is primarily due to the nature of the diseases correlated with PFAS.

Most of those health concerns are associated with a number of other medical and/or environmental factors, meaning doctors may be neglecting serious considerations when wholly attributing illnesses or disorders to PFAS.

However, based on these new findings, some physicians have incorporated environmental screenings into visits.

Karr said the UW Occupational and Environmental Medicine Clinic recommends that their doctors “take an environmental and occupational history to understand the potential for high exposure to PFAS. Since virtually everyone has some level of exposure, the goal is to identify those patients that have (an) opportunity for higher exposures.”

PFAS testing works on water and blood.

When it comes to prevention, Karr believes there is a basic framework to follow for reducing exposure:

• Find out if your drinking water source is contaminated with PFAS.
• Wash children’s hands after they play outside in soil.
• Keep dust under control in your home with wet mopping and damp dusting.
• Avoid consumer products that may contain PFAS.
• Replace nonstick cookware (often), particularly as the coatings appear to breakdown.
• Avoid fast food or food products in grease resistance-coated packaging.
• Avoid clothing such as water-resistant outerwear or furniture and carpets with stain resistance-treatments.
• Avoid consuming fish caught from local waters with fish advisories for contaminants including PFAS.

Going forward, Karr is most concerned “about the widespread exposure and the evolving identification of more and more types of health problems.” Specifically, as a pediatrician, she worries that early life exposure could impact healthy growth and development.