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55 new 'alarming' chemicals found in humans: study

'forever chemicals' are linked to cancer and accumulate more quickly than the body can get rid of them.

fifty-five new 'alarming' chemicals found in humans: study
"these chemicals can be with us for generations.” getty
an “alarming” number of chemicals are currently flowing through the blood of pregnant women, including 55 previously unreported in humans and 42 that couldn’t even be identified, according to a new study.

the research, published in environmental science & technology, said the 109 chemicals of concern were also detected in the women’s newborn babies, most likely migrating there through the placenta during pregnancy. consumer products and other industrial sources are the main culprit, said tracey j. woodruff , a professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at the university of california, san francisco (ucfc).

“these chemicals have probably been in people for quite some time, but our technology is now helping us to identify more of them,” said woodruff, who is also the director of ucfc’s program on reproductive health and the environment and the environmental research and translation for health (earth) center. “it is alarming that we keep seeing certain chemicals travel from pregnant women to their children, which means these chemicals can be with us for generations.”
to identify the chemicals, researchers employed high-resolution spectrometry and then compared the findings against the “analytical standards” manufacturers use during production. the process has been complicated by the growing refusal of some companies to make this information readily available, often under the guise of trade secrets. solvay, a chemical manufacturer cited by the researchers, no longer allows access to the standards it uses in the creation of one perfluorooctanoic acid (pfas) compound that has replaced other discontinued pfas compounds.

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while several studies have found causal links between pfas — sometimes referred to as “forever chemicals” — and cancer, according to the cbc , no definitive link has been proven. a recent study concluded as many as 98.5 per cent of canadians may have such compounds inside them. commonly used in non-stick cookware and waterproof fabrics, pfas are stable, durable chemicals that accumulate more quickly than the body can remove them.

“these new technologies are promising in enabling us to identify more chemicals in people but our study findings also make clear that chemical manufacturers need to provide analytical standards so that we can confirm the presence of chemicals and evaluate their toxicity,” said dimitri panagopoulos abrahamsson, co-lead author of the study and a postdoctoral fellow at ucfc’s program on reproductive health and the environment.


 

the wayward chemicals detected in human blood are used for a multitude of purposes, including as plasticizers (40), in cosmetic products (28), consumer products (25), pharmaceuticals (29), pesticides (23) flame retardants (7) and pfas compounds (7). the researchers said these chemicals may also be used for other purposes.

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there is little or no information about the source or purpose of the bulk of the 55 chemicals that have never before been reported in people. some were so unknown that acronyms had not yet been assigned to describe them, researchers said.
“it’s very concerning that we are unable to identify the uses or sources of so many of these chemicals,” woodruff said. “epa must do a better job of requiring the chemical industry to standardize its reporting of chemical compounds and uses. and they need to use their authority to ensure that we have adequate information to evaluate potential health harms and remove chemicals from the market that pose a risk.”

dave yasvinski is a writer with healthing.ca

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