PFAS are a class of synthetic chemicals, there are thousands of different PFAS used and present in household products, kitchen utensils and food packaging but also hygiene and care products, such as shampoos, yarn dental or cosmetics. Thus, “everyone” is exposed to PFAS. These “eternal chemicals” also enter the food system through fish living in contaminated waters or dairy products from cows exposed to PFAS through fertilizers, for example.
PFAS never degrade in the environment and contaminate drinking water, soil, air, food and many consumer and everyday products. One study estimated that more than two-thirds of people in rich countries were exposed to PFAS, said lead author, researcher Ning Ding, from the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.
Even at low levels in the blood, research has shown that PFAS can have adverse health effects. Some PFAS have thus been associated with cardiovascular risk and in particular with endothelial dysfunction, oxidative stress and an increase in cholesterol levels.
This study is nevertheless the first to assess whether PFAS levels affect blood pressure in middle-aged women.
Women seem to be particularly vulnerable
when they are exposed to these chemicals: thus, their exposure may be an underestimated risk factor for cardiovascular disease and in particular hypertension in women.
The study: analysis of data from the SWAN-MPS (Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation-Multi-Pollutant Study), a prospective study of women of different ethnic origins in their 40s, focused on the blood levels of certain specific PFAS and the risk of high blood pressure. Specifically, these data were analyzed for 1,000 participants with normal blood pressure at the time of inclusion. Blood levels of PFAS were measured at the start of the study. All participants were followed almost every year from 1999 to 2017. The analysis reveals:
- over 11,722 person-years of follow-up: 470 diagnoses of high blood pressure;
- participants with higher concentrations of specific PFAS have an increased risk of hypertension;
- these include higher concentrations of perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), and 2-(N-ethyl-perfluorooctane sulfonamido)acetic acid (EtFOSAA, a precursor to PFOS). A one-third increase in the levels of these substances is associated, respectively, with a 42%, 47% and 42% increased risk of arterial hypertension, compared to the lowest concentrations of these PFAS;
- women with the highest concentrations of the 7 PFAS examined have a 71% increased risk of developing hypertension;
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thus, combined exposure to multiple PFASs induces a stronger synergistic effect on blood pressure.
The implementation of strategies aimed at limiting the widespread use of PFAS in everyday products is an emergency, write the researchers, who recall that PFAS disrupt metabolism but therefore also blood pressure.