Researchers believe it is the first study to examine how people’s diets are associated with the levels of forever chemicals in their blood over time.
ADVERTISEMENTWhat we eat and where we eat it could impact the level of forever chemicals in our blood, according to researchers in the US.
They asked more than 700 people across two groups a series of questions about their diet including how frequently they consumed certain foods and beverages - like dark green vegetables, bread, milk sports drinks and tea - and tested the levels of PFAS in their blood.
Researchers also asked them how often they ate food prepared at home, at a fast food restaurant or at a non-fast food restaurant. They used this information to hypothesise how often participants came into contact with food packaging which is a common source of PFAS.
What foods were linked to higher levels of forever chemicals?
The study found that consuming high amounts of tea, processed meats and food prepared outside of the home was associated with increased levels of PFAS in the body over time.
Participants who consumed more tea, hot dogs and processed meats overall also had higher PFAS levels.
However, some foods were only associated with higher PFAS levels when they were prepared outside of the home. People who ate foods like french fries or pizza prepared at restaurants typically showed increased levels of forever chemicals in their blood. Researchers suggest that the findings point to packaging as the problem.
The link between tea and high PFAS levels, for example, they suspect is linked to tea bags treated with forever chemicals - though more research is needed. Processed meats are less surprising with many possible avenues for contamination in their manufacturing process.
“We’re starting to see that even foods that are metabolically quite healthy can be contaminated with PFAS,” says Hailey Hampson, a doctoral student at the Keck School of Medicine’s Division of Environmental Health and the study’s lead author.
“These findings highlight the need to look at what constitutes ‘healthy’ food in a different way.”
The team believes it is the first study to examine how people’s diets are associated with the levels of forever chemicals in their blood over time.
“Looking at multiple time points gives us an idea of how changing people’s diets might actually impact PFAS levels,” says Jesse A. Goodrich, the study’s senior author and assistant professor of population and public health sciences at the Keck School of Medicine.
Why are PFAS a problem?
PFAS or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances are known to be harmful to our health. Studies have shown that they can disrupt hormones, weaken bones or increase the risk of some diseases. They have also been linked to cancer, birth defects, kidney disease and other serious health problems.
They are known as forever chemicals because they take a very long time to break down and can be incredibly hard to get rid of. A lot of previous research has focused on their presence in water but scientists say contaminated food is probably the biggest threat to human health.
Some of the worst sources of contamination in food include wrappers, some plastics in packaging, pesticides and water or fertiliser tainted with PFAS used when the products are grown.
The study’s authors say the goal is not necessarily to determine which foods are ‘healthy’ and which aren’t, but instead to find out which foods might need more testing to monitor where contamination is coming from.
