Together, forever
on per- and poly- fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)
Today’s letter was written on a plane to Lisbon, on my way to reunite with my best friends after a month apart. What’s the over/under on me crying tears of joy?
In “Future Forever,” Bjork murmurs, “We’re just momentary vessels, we’re just carrying.” Was she talking about how we’re just vessels for “forever chemicals”? Maybe.
PFAS are a group of man-made chemicals introduced in the 1940s. They’re valued for their resistance to oil, heat, and water. You can find them in non-stick cookware, water-repellent clothing, stain-resistant fabrics, food/food packaging, make-up, and inside your body. Their strength (they don’t break down) is our weakness. We now know that PFAS accumulates in our bodies, air, water, and soil over time, sparking health concerns. Existing studies link PFAS exposure to the following health complications:
Developing cancer or impacting cancer progression (disease getting worse)/treatment response (how tumor/cancer cells respond to chemo/drugs/etc): evidence supporting link to prostate, kidney, breast, ovarian and endometrial, and testicular cancers. Studies are ongoing on Thyroid cancer and Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
Disrupting hormones and thyroid function:
Our thyroids and hormones are directly connected. Studies have found links between PFAS exposure and thyroid diseases like hypothyroidism (when your body doesn’t produce enough thyroid hormones to meet your body’s needs), or elevated thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels in pregnancy (which is tied to poor outcomes for pregnant women and their fetuses)
Because PFAS are endocrine disruptors (FYI the endocrine system is a group of tissues + glands that release hormones), scientists have linked them to a higher risk of obesity. This is because PFAS exposure is known to impact basic functions like basal metabolic rate, which is the baseline caloric needs for your body. That is, how many calories would you burn if you were in a coma (I hope you’re not in a coma.), how many calories would your body burn?
The hormone-disrupting nature of PFAS has also been linked to both early puberty and delayed puberty
Reducing immune system response: studies show that some PFAS chemicals can dampen our immune system, making it harder for us to fight infections. This also means a suboptimal vaccine response
Delayed childhood development: PFAS exposure starts before birth. Scientists have found that pregnancy exposure is significantly linked to neurodevelopmental issues, and lower birth weight yet higher adipose (fat) weight in childhood
Damaging your liver: 3M scientists knew this years ago (more on this below), but the more we’re exposed to PFAS chemicals, the more they pile up in our organs. The liver gets hit the worst. It’s our Detox King—the HBIC of breaking down toxins in our bodies. PFAS exposure has been found to reduce liver function and increase liver disease.
In 2022, the Annals of Global Health published a peer-reviewed deep-dive on what PFAS manufacturers knew about harmful health effects and when they became aware. They gave it the clever title, “The Devil they Knew: Chemical Documents Analysis of Industry Influence on PFAS Science.” They conclude that manufacturers realized toxicity risk 40 years before the public health community, but borrowed from the Tobacco Industry playbook and suppressed the information. It’s a reminder that corporations often fail to do what’s right for public health.
This week, ProPublica + The New Yorker published an investigation by Sharon Lerner on 3M’s PFAS secrets. Lerner has reported on PFAS for several years. She often covers the intersection of health and the environment, flagging environmental regulatory failures.
For this piece, she speaks with scientist Kris Hansen (3M nepo baby) who found proof that 3M PFAS chemicals had made their way into our bodies. It’s got it all—bright young mind finding data that could harm her employer, superiors blocking her work, revelations that some 3M employees were previously aware of the issue, IHOP bottomless coffee.
I strongly urge you to read it (or listen to it, they make it SO easy for you!), but here are some highlights:
For the rodents + monkeys: “In one early experiment, conducted in the late ’70s, a group of 3M scientists fed PFOS to rats on a daily basis. Starting at the second-lowest dose…the rats showed signs of possible harm to their livers, and half of them died. At higher doses, every rat died. Soon afterward, 3M scientists found that a relatively low daily dose, 4.5 milligrams for every kilogram of body weight, could kill a monkey within weeks.” (link to highlight in report)
For the mothers-to-be: “…in female rats the levels sometimes fell. Hansen was unsettled when toxicology reports indicated why: Mother rats seemed to be offloading the chemical to their pups. Exposure to PFOS could begin before birth.” (link to highlight in report)
For the rural homesteaders: “Hansen knew that if she could find a blood sample that didn’t contain PFOS then she might be able to convince her colleagues that the other samples did….Then they ran an overnight test on blood that had been collected in rural China during the ’80s and ’90s…For the first time since she had begun testing blood, some of the samples showed no trace of PFOS.” (link to highlight)
For the money-minded: “A team of New York University researchers estimated in 2018 that the costs of just two forever chemicals, PFOA and PFOS — in terms of disease burden, disability and health-care expenses — amounted to as much as $62 billion in a single year. This exceeds the current market value of 3M. (link to highlight in report)”
Things can sometimes feel futile. The best thing we can do is support our bodies and environment so they can have a fighting chance. On a systemic level, efforts to mitigate PFAS exposure include water treatment, product reformulation with alternatives to PFAS, and policies limiting PFAS production and use. Pharma is also exploring options to reduce internal PFAS exposure or improve PFAS secretion (removing it from your body). Some countries have taken steps to regulate PFAS chemicals. The Biden-Harris administration outlines its plans in this March 2023 report, with the below strategy:
removal, destruction, or degradation of PFAS
identification of safer alternatives
understanding PFAS sources and exposure pathways
toxicity evidence development
On a personal level, it’s truly about limiting exposure (as best you can), staying active, and getting your nutrients. While limited, evidence shows that fiber can help your body clear PFAS, for example. A friend installed a reverse osmosis filter in her kitchen sink, and now I’m considering one. Some people also stick to non-toxic cooking kitchenware, this list from Dr. Leigh Erin Connealy for her cancer patients is a good place to start.
Sorry to be a drag,
xxsem