PFAS (forever chemicals) reduce Vitamin D and VDR, cause health problems - many studies

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Sewage-based fertilizers have been found to contaminate farmlands with PFAS (microplastics) - Dec 2024

The New Republic
  Biosolids

• Through trial and error, Maine regulators are figuring out how PFAS works. Leafy greens) for instance, tend to be more vulnerable to contamination; McBrady says that fruit plants, by contrast, seem to store PFAS in the plant material, while the fruit remains relatively PFAS-free. One Maine farm with PFAS-contaminated soil successfully switched from growing foraging grasses for cattle to growing grains, whose stalks seem to protect the harvestable material from PFAS contamination. The farm now raises pigs who eat the safe grains."

Biosolids contain both PFAS and microplastics. 400 Centigrade heat eliminates both. Perplexity AI

3 biosolids and PFAS studies on the web

• PFAS in soil and groundwater following historical land application of biosolids - March 2022 Free partial PDF
• Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in Canadian municipal wastewater and biosolids: Recent patterns and time trends 2009 to 2021 - Feb 2024 FREE PDF
• Biosolids as a Potential Source of PFAS to Farming Soils Nov 2024 preprint FREE PDF

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PFAS reductions by US, Australia, NZ, Japan, several EU countries - 2024

Perplexity AI Oct 2024

"Troubling": 65% of bandages contain PFAS - which can directly enter body thru wounds - April 2024

Daily Mail - UK

• "The bandages that contain high levels of fluorine above 100 parts per million include brands Band-Aid, Care Science, Curad, CVS Health, Equate, First Honey, Rite Aid brand, Solimo (Amazon brand), and Up & Up, Target’s brand."
• "Environmental Health News looked at 46 different sanitary pads, panty liners, and incontinence pads for evidence of PFAS.
  Fluorine was detected in 22 of them, or 48 percent."

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The Poison in Us All — Investigating the “Forever Chemicals” Scandal - Mercola July 2024

Mercola

• "3M ended up settling in 2018, and was ordered to pay $850 million for contaminating Minnesota's water supply for decades. Yet, there was no admission of any wrongdoing, nor did they admit that any cover-up occurred."
• "Minnesota Will Ban PFAS Starting This Year (2024)"

Update; Toxic and Tenacious — How ‘Forever Chemicals’ Are Damaging Your Health Mercola with a 42 minute video - Dec 2024
"There are more than 14,000 PFAS used in everything from firefighting foam to household items like furniture, clothes and plastics. Even dental floss and tampons contain them.7 Fluoropolymers coat frying pans, fluorosurfactants render materials oil- and water-repellent and fluorinated gases serve as coolants in refrigeration systems."

Environmental Working Group's (EWG) "Guide to Avoiding PFAS Chemicals"

Pretreated or stain-repellent treatments — Opt out of these treatments on clothing, furniture and carpeting. Clothing advertised as "breathable" is typically treated with polytetrafluoroethylene, a synthetic fluoropolymer commonly known as Teflon.

Products treated with flame retardant chemicals — This includes furniture, carpet, mattresses and baby items. Instead, opt for naturally less flammable materials such as leather, wool and cotton.

Fast food and carry-out foods — The containers are typically treated with PFAS.

Microwave popcorn — PFAS may be present in the inner coating of the bag and may migrate to the oil from the packaging during heating. Instead, use "old-fashioned" stovetop non-GMO popcorn.

Nonstick cookware and other treated kitchen utensils — Healthier options include ceramic and enameled cast iron cookware, both of which are durable, easy to clean and completely inert, which means they won't release any harmful chemicals into your home.

Personal care products containing PTFE, "fluoro" or "perfluoro" ingredients such as Oral B Glide floss — The EWG Skin Deep database is an excellent source to search for healthier personal care options

Includes a reference to the Bloomberg video below

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The Forever Chemical Scandal | Bloomberg 48 minute video - Dec 2023

YouTube

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PFAS associated with lower vitamin D - June 2023

Combining the targeted and untargeted screening of environmental contaminants reveals associations between PFAS exposure and vitamin D metabolism in human plasma
Environ Sci Process Impacts . 2023 Jun 21;25(6):1116-1130. doi: 10.1039/d3em00060e.
Henrik Carlsson 1, Akshai Parakkal Sreenivasan 1, Ida Erngren 1, Anders Larsson 1, Kim Kultima 1

We have developed, validated, and applied a method for the targeted and untargeted screening of environmental contaminants in human plasma using liquid chromatography high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS). The method was optimized for several classes of environmental contaminants, including PFASs, OH-PCBs, HBCDs, and bisphenols. One-hundred plasma samples from blood donors (19-75 years, men n = 50, women n = 50, from Uppsala, Sweden) were analyzed. Nineteen targeted compounds were detected across the samples, with 18 being PFASs and the 19th being OH-PCB (4-OH-PCB-187). Ten compounds were positively associated with age (in order of increasing p-values: PFNA, PFOS, PFDA, 4-OH-PCB-187, FOSA, PFUdA, L-PFHpS, PFTrDA, PFDoA, and PFHpA; p-values ranging from 2.5 × 10-5 to 4.67 × 10-2). Three compounds were associated with sex (in order of increasing p-values: L-PFHpS, PFOS, and PFNA; p-values ranging from 1.71 × 10-2 to 3.88 × 10-2), all with higher concentrations in male subjects compared with female subjects. Strong correlations (0.56-0.93) were observed between long-chain PFAS compounds (PFNA, PFOS, PFDA, PFUdA, PFDoA, and PFTrDA). In the non-targeted data analysis, fourteen unknown features correlating with known PFASs were found (correlation coefficients 0.48-0.99). Five endogenous compounds were identified from these features, all correlating strongly with PFHxS (correlation coefficients 0.59-0.71).
Three of the identified compounds were vitamin D3 metabolites, and two were diglyceride lipids (DG 24:6;O). The results demonstrate the potential of combining targeted and untargeted approaches to increase the coverage of compounds detected with a single method. This methodology is well suited for exposomics to detect previously unknown associations between environmental contaminants and endogenous compounds that may be important for human health.
 Download the study from VitaminDWiki

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PFAS chemicals reduced bone density - Jan 2024

Do ‘Forever Chemicals’ Affect Bone Health in Youth? MD Edge, from Clinical Endocrinology News
Studies include

• Exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances and longitudinal changes in bone mineral density in adolescents and young adults: A multi-cohort study - Dec 2023 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2023.117611 FREE PDF
• Association between perfluoroalkyl substances concentration and bone mineral density in the US adolescents aged 12-19 years in NHANES 2005-2010 - Oct 2022 https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2022.980608 FREE PDF

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PFAS chemicals linked to delayed onset of puberty in young girls - Oct 2023

Trial Site News

• "The study found that in girls with PFAS exposure, puberty is delayed five or six months, on average, but there will be some girls where it's delayed a lot more and others that it wasn't delayed at all,"

Study FREE PDF

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For 40 Years, Dupont and 3M Hide PFAS Studies - June 2023

For 40 Years, Dupont and 3M Hid Studies Showing PFAS Chemicals Cause Serious Harm to Human Health the Defender

• "According to the authors of the new study in the Annals of Global Health, Dupont and 3M used the same tactics the tobacco industry employed to delay public awareness of the toxicity of PFAS chemicals and delay regulation of their use."

 Download the study from VitaminDWiki

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FDA requires reporting of spills of PFAS, but does not ban PFAS in foods - Aug 2022

New York Times

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PFAS banned in many countries

Official start to ban PFAS in Europe 2022

• "Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Norway formally announced the intention to submit a restriction proposal for PFAS to the European Chemicals Agency ECHA by 19 July 2022."

PFAS Country Situation Reports as of Aug 2022
Bangladesh, Egypt, India. Indonesia, Japan
PDF icon Jordan 359.81 KB
PDF icon Lebanon 501.03 KB
PDF icon Malaysia 759.13 KB
PDF icon Nepal 529.82 KB
PDF icon Sri Lanka 852.71 KB
PDF icon ไทย (Thai) land 556.1 KB
PDF icon Vietnam

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Exposure to PFAS Linked to 13 Medical Conditions - July 2022

Exposure to PFAS Linked to 13 Medical Conditions and Billions of Dollars in Health Care Costs- Trial Site News

• "The resulting economic burden is estimated to cost Americans a minimum of $5.5 billion and as much as $63 billion over the lifetime of the current population."
• Childhood obesity = $2.7 billion. Hypothyroidism in women = $1.26 billion.
• "The study investigators also expanded the scope of their economic estimates to include eight other conditions with preliminary links to PFAS exposure, including endometriosis, obesity in adults, and pneumonia in children. When such diseases were considered, the total costs reached as high as $63 billion."

Study = Leveraging Systematic Reviews to Explore Disease Burden and Costs of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substance Exposures in the United States
 PDF
Table of Contents

Subset of analysis

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PFOA, PFASS appears to reduce activation of VDR and other genes

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PFAS blocks the Vitamin D Receptor - 2021

PFAS and correlation with vitamin D metabolism

 Download the PDF from VitaminDWiki

Endocrine disruption of vitamin D activity by perfluoro-octanoic acid (PFOA) - Oct 2020

 PDF
Affects the VDR and other genes

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VDR as a Potential Target for the Toxic Effects of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (Pfass) - June 2022

 Download the pre-print PDF from VitaminDWiki
Conclusion
Computational modeling predicts that a large number of PFASs of commercial and regulatory
importance may impact the function of the vitamin D receptor and interfere with the beneficial
effects of vitamin D3. This may lead to increased osteoporosis and impaired immune function, two
adverse effects that have been observed in epidemiological studies of humans exposed to PFASs.
validation of these in silico findings should be a high priority

Does not seem to indicate the size of the impact

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PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals’ Are in Your Popcorn—and Your Blood - Oct 2019

Wired Magazine
” Food packaging can contain a group of chemicals called PFAS, which have been linked to immune, thyroid, kidney, and reproductive health problems.”

• “Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances are a group of about 4,700 chemicals that make carpets and upholstery stain-resistant and help firefighters douse burning oil and gas. Some PFAS versions keep your burger from sticking to its fast-food wrapper and your salad from turning its fiber-based bowl into a soggy mess.”

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Other chemical pollutants affecting health

• BPA is a possible cause of obesity epidemic - Dr. Greger June 2019
• Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals - book April 2019
• Plastics, BPA, PCB and Vitamin D deficiency
• Increase of plastic compounds (phthalates) in urine during pregnancy associated with decreased Vitamin D – Aug 2017
• PCBs increased the chance of being Vitamin D deficient by 3 percent – May 2013
• Microplastics now causing problems in most life forms - many studies

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PFOA associated with lower Vitamin D Levels - March 2019

Associations of serum perfluoroalkyl substance and vitamin D biomarker concentrations in NHANES, 2003-2010
Int J Hyg Environ Health. 2019 Mar;222(2):262-269. doi: 10.1016/j.ijheh.2018.11.003. Epub 2018 Nov 28.
Etzel TM1, Braun JM2, Buckley JP3.

• 1 Department of Environmental Health & Engineering, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD, 21215, USA. Electronic address: tetzel2 at jhmi.edu.
• 2 Department of Epidemiology, Brown University School of Public Health, 121 South Main Street, Providence, RI, 02920, USA. Electronic address: joseph_braun_1 at brown.edu.
• 3 Department of Environmental Health & Engineering, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD, 21215, USA; Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD, 21215, USA. Electronic address: jbuckl19 at jhu.edu.

Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are persistent endocrine-disrupting chemicals found in industrial and commercial products. Previous research has shown that other endocrine disrupting chemicals such as phthalates and bisphenol A may alter circulating levels of vitamin D; however, no research has examined associations between PFAS and vitamin D biomarkers. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 7040 individuals aged 12 years and older participating in the 2003-2010 cycles of the United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Concentrations of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), and total 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] were measured in serum samples. We used multivariable linear regression to estimate covariate-adjusted differences in total 25(OH)D or prevalence odds of vitamin D deficiency per log2 change in PFAS concentrations. We also assessed potential effect measure modification by gender, age, and race/ethnicity. PFAS were detected in over 98% of the samples. In adjusted models, each 2-fold increase in PFOS was associated with 0.9 nmol/L (95% CI: 0.2, 1.5) lower total 25(OH)D concentrations, with associations significantly stronger among whites (β: -1.7; 95% CI: -2.6, -0.7) and individuals older than 60 years of age (β: -1.7; 95% CI: -2.9, -0.5). Each 2-fold increase in PFHxS was associated with 0.8 nmol/L (95% CI: 0.3, 1.3) higher total 25(OH)D, and this association was not modified by age, gender, and race/ethnicity. PFOA and PFNA were not associated with total 25(OH)D. When assessing prevalence odds of vitamin D deficiency, we observed similar patterns of association with PFAS concentrations. Our results suggest that some PFAS may be associated with altered vitamin D levels in the United States population, and associations may vary by chemical, age, and race/ethnicity. Prospective epidemiological studies are needed to confirm our findings and determine their implications for vitamin D-associated health outcomes in children and adults.

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PFAS associated with 2X higher risk of fracture in young men – Sept 2019

Perfluoroalkyl substances and bone health in young men: a pilot study
Endocrine https://doi.org/10.1007/s12020-019-02096-4
A. Di NisioM. De Rocco PonceA. GiadoneM. S. RoccaD. GuidolinC. Foresta
 Download the PDF from Sci-Hub via VitaminDWiki

Purpose
Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of endocrine-disrupting chemicals. Toxicological studies indicate that PFAS accumulates in bone tissue and could cause alterations in bone metabolism. The primary objective of this study was to examine the association between PFAS exposure and bone status in a cohort of young men resident in a well-defined area with high PFAS environmental pollution.

Methods
Bone status was assessed in 117 subjects aged 18–21 by quantitative ultrasound (QUS) at the heel. Subjects underwent an accurate medical visit. Socio-demographic characteristics, lifestyle, and medical histories were collected. We also verified the interaction between PFAS and hydroxyapatite by computational modelling. The organic anion-transporting peptide (OATP), the putative transporter of PFAS, was evaluated by qPCR in bone biopsies from femoral heads discarded during arthroplasty in three male subjects.

Results
Exposed subjects showed significantly lower stiffness index, which resulted in lower t-score and higher prevalence of subjects at
medium-high risk of fracture

• (23.6%) compared with controls
• (9.7%).

Data from computational modelling suggested that PFOA exhibits a high affinity for hydroxyapatite, since the estimated change in free energy is in the order of that exhibited by bisphosphonates. Finally, we observed consistent expression of OATP1A2 gene in primary human osteoblasts.

Conclusions
This is the first study reporting increased osteoporosis risk in young men exposed to PFAS and provide preliminary information on molecular mechanisms that could explain this observation, in agreement with previous studies on animal models and humans. However, these results must be interpreted with caution given the cross-sectional study design and the small number of cases.

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Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) and Your Health - CDC 2019

Clipped from CDC web page - Oct 2019
Some, but not all, studies in humans with PFAS exposure have shown that certain PFAS may:

• affect growth, learning, and behavior of infants and older children
• lower a woman’s chance of getting pregnant
• interfere with the body’s natural hormones
• increase cholesterol levels
• affect the immune system
• increase the risk of cancer

Table of Contents
What are PFAS?
How can I be exposed to PFAS?
What are the health effects?
Understanding PFAS Exposure
Map of ATSDR Site Involvement
Multi-Site Health Study
Pease Study New!
PFAS Exposure Assessments
PFAS Exposure Assessment Technical Tools (PEATT)
Information for Clinicians and Environmental Health Professionals

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Iodine reduces Fluorine - which may be the PFAS problem

Note: Iodine has decreased a lot in the past 30 years
Less Iodine in bread and milk
Less iodine in salt now:
  virtually none in commercially prepared foods
  hardly any in salt that has been on the shelf for > 1 year

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