2023-04-20 11:00:00
Environ 18% of the world’s population is affected by this disease with multiple causes (sedentary lifestyle, poor diet, genetics, etc.) which are still the subject of research. “Air pollutants and several industrial chemicals have recently been identified as probable obesogens” (source 1). A study published in the journal Obesity proves that PFASchemical substances nicknamed “ eternal pollutants “due to their extreme persistence in the environment, “may lead to weight gain and thus contribute to the obesity pandemic ».
The study was conducted among 381 people suffering from obesity in 8 European countries (Germany, Bulgaria, Denmark, Spain, Greece, Netherlands, Czech Republic and United Kingdom). The scientists analyzed the participants’ blood for the presence of five PFAS molecules. For a minimum of 26 weeks, obese adults followed different specific diets. The result was clear: “high plasma concentrations of PFOA and PFHxS were associated with increased weight gain which exceeded those related to diets”. In detail, in people who had a PFOA rate twice as high as the average, saw their weight increased by 1.5 kg more than people with an average rate. After one year, participants with the highest PFOA levels had gained an average of 5 kg, even though they had been on the healthiest diet.
Pervasive Eternal Pollutants in the Environment
Pollutants are all around us. “These substances are widely present in the environment and they are regularly found in human blood. The ubiquity of PFAS is linked to their intensive use in industrial and consumer productsincluding food packaging, paper and textile coatings, non-stick cookware…”, states the study.
According to a report by the General Inspectorate for the Environment and Sustainable Development published in April 2023, record concentrations of PFOA, although classified as ” probable carcinogen since 2016, have been found in French groundwater (source 2). Its rate even approached 10,000 ng/l in the Paris region, while the American environmental protection agency recommends not to exceed a concentration of 4 ng/l in drinking water.
PFAS are only very little framed In France. However, according to the study published in Obesity, “these pollutants deserve attention in public health efforts to control the obesity pandemic. The government has also launched a 2023-2027 action plan to “strengthen the protection of French people and the environment once morest the risks associated with these substances” (source 3).
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