You may never have heard of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, but it is now a worldwide epidemic and is thought to affect approximately 25% of the world’s population, including some 89 million Americans. It is of great concern because, without treatment, the condition can progress to serious liver injury, including cirrhosis and liver failure.
Now a new review of research suggests that a factor that contributing to rising rates could be PFAS, the ubiquitous chemicals used in nonstick pans, waterproof gear, firefighting foam, takeout containers, etc.
Researchers Several conditions have been identified that put people at higher risk for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), including obesity, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. However, scientists are still trying to understand all the factors contributing to the significant increase in cases. Previous research suggests that exposure to environmental chemicals such as PCBs, banned since the 1970 but still found in the environment, could play a role. In the new review, published Wednesday in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, researchers analyzed human and animal studies and found that PFAS exposure may also be a significant risk factor.
PFAS and your health
PFAS have long been used in a wide variety of products and are often referred to as “everlasting chemicals” because they do not naturally break down or They do it extremely slowly. This means that they accumulate in the environment and in us. In recent decades, PFAS have been linked to a growing list of health problems, including a weakened immune system, kidney damage, and an increased risk of certain types of cancer.
Sometimes There has been a perception that the effects of PFAS exposure on the liver are somewhat uncertain, says Dr. Alan Ducatman, professor emeritus at the West Virginia University School of Public Health, who co-wrote a commentary on the new review. . But “it’s not the case that the PFAS findings are inconclusive or inconsistent, they’re pretty consistent,” he says, as confirmed by this new review. Scientists should feel safe calling PFAS “hepatotoxic,” or harmful to the liver, says Ducatman.
Liver damage has long been observed in communities exposed to high levels of PFAS, says Dr. Jamie DeWitt, a professor of pharmacology and toxicology at East Carolina University, who was not involved in the study. new studio. The new review helps solidify these observations. “Evidence from epidemiological studies and animal studies confirms that the liver is the target of PFAS”, indicates
What the study found
To better understand how PFAS exposure is related to liver damage, the authors of the new review examined evidence from 25 human studies and 86 rodent studies.
“We have seen for years, in isolated studies, that PFAS could have toxic effects on the liver,’ says Elizabeth Costello, a doctoral student in the department of population sciences and public health of the Keck School of Medicine and one of the lead authors of the study. “Researchers have seen this before in occupational health studies and in population health surveys, but this review allows us to put it all in one place. This review may show that the evidence points in the same direction, even if some individual studies find no relationship.”
In people, the evidence clearly shows that exposure to certain PFAS is associated with higher levels of a liver enzyme that is used as an indicator of liver damage and is also elevated in people with NAFLD. That same link is found in animal studies, which also show that rodents exposed to PFAS have an abnormal accumulation of fat in the liver.
To confirm that PFAS directly cause NAFLD in people Scientists will still need to do more research that follows subjects for several years, Costello says. But the evidence so far strongly suggests a connection, says Ducatman. It’s possible, she says, that PFAS exposure increases people’s susceptibility to NAFLD. This increased susceptibility combined with other risk factors, including high-calorie diets and sedentary lifestyles, could help explain the rise in this disease.
Looking Ahead
This new review helps clarify how PFAS might affect the liver, which will help researchers figure out what to look for in future studies, DeWitt says.
Y Although more research is needed to identify exactly how much PFAS exposure can cause liver damage, some concerning changes are detected, even at very low levels of exposure, says Ducatman. This could be a reason for public health authorities to consider monitoring liver health in communities known to be highly exposed to PFAS.
Another question that needs to be answered is whether all PFAS cause or not these same effects. Most studies in people focus only on a few of the more well-known PFAS chemicals. Several of these have already been largely eliminated from production in the United States, although they are still commonly found in people because they persist in the environment. And there are thousands of other potential PFASs, with hundreds in use, that have not yet been sufficiently studied. But even if we don’t know for sure that all PFAS cause the same effects, chemicals that serve a similar purpose can have similar effects in the body, says Ducatman.
At this time, because only a few of these chemicals have been phased out, many people may be exposed to potential health effects caused by the replacement chemicals . “If we are going to use PFAS, we are obligated to find out which ones are safe, if any, rather than assuming they are safe unless proven otherwise,” says Ducatman.
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Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with advertisers on this site . Consumer Reports is an independent, nonprofit organization that works with consumers to create a fair, safe, and healthy world. CR does not endorse products or services and does not accept advertising. Copyright © 2022, Consumer Reports, Inc.