Nov. 5, 2024 – Exposure to chemicals called PFAS during young adulthood has been linked to yet another serious health problem – reduced kidney function and kidney disease.
Often called "forever chemicals" because they break down very slowly (both in the human body and in the environment), the substances are widely used in everyday products, like food packaging, paint, cookware, and stain- and water-resistant fabrics.
Published in the new edition of the journal Science of the Total Environment, the study looked at health data for 78 young adults ages 17 to 22. Researchers found links between blood levels of PFAS, bacteria levels in the gut, and results from a common blood test that measures kidney function, called estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). As a person's PFAS levels increased, the researchers saw a corresponding decrease in kidney function.
Blood and stool samples were collected at the start of the study, and then again four years later.
When the team added gut bacteria and metabolites to their analysis, they found that changes in certain bacteria and metabolites from the stool samples were significantly linked to both PFAS levels and kidney function. Metabolites are the resulting substances after the body breaks down food, drugs, or chemicals.
The researchers called the study a "proof of concept" because it was small and sought to understand whether there was a triangular link between PFAS, the gut microbiome, and kidney function.
"Nearly everyone has PFAS in their blood, and these chemicals are associated with a number of negative health effects. But we don't have any known interventions to reduce PFAS in the body, so we can't actually provide recommendations to help," lead author Hailey Hampson, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in population and public health sciences at the University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine, said in a news release.
The results suggest that, perhaps someday, new treatments to prevent kidney damage could target the gut microbiome or the metabolites linked to increased PFAS levels.
PFAS are already linked to numerous health issues, including heart problems, cancer, and chronic kidney disease, but scientists are still working to understand exactly how PFAS cause changes in the body that lead to those problems.