Dr. Leo Trasande, an internationally recognized expert in children’s environmental health, talks to HealthDay about the dangers of PFAS in our food supply.
Hi, I’m Dr. Robin Miller for HealthDay.
PFAS, also known as forever chemicals, are in the blood of nearly all Americans. We’re exposed to them when we use certain products, drink contaminated water and eat certain foods.
These hormone disrupting chemicals are found in many different industries and consumer products including stain-resistant fabrics, firefighting foam, cosmetics, non-stick cookware and food packaging.
They’ve been linked to serious health issues from cancer to high blood pressure, liver problems to developmental delays in children.
Joining me now is Doctor Leo Trasande, a professor at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and an internationally recognized leader in children's environmental health. Thank you so much for joining us, Doctor Trasande.
Leonardo Trasande, MD, MPP, NYU Langone Health
Thanks for having me.
Robin Miller, MD, MHS, HealthDay
So, what are PFAS and how did they get into our food supply?
Leonardo Trasande, MD, MPP, NYU Langone Health
PFAS are, in the long name, per and polyfluoroalkyl substances.
The nonstick cooking materials that we've used for many years are lined with these PFAS, because we like our eggs to not stick on the proverbial pan. And the same is true with oil-and-water-resistant clothing.
The heat and harsh conditions can lead to breakdown of those PFAS with time. We've all seen that scratched or stained nonstick cooking pan that enhances getting PFAS into food, and there are also ways that people absorb them from food packaging. Plastics are increasingly made of these fluoroalkyl polymers, these PFAS, and they can also absorb into food that way.
Robin Miller, MD, MHS, HealthDay
Are there any safe levels in food?
Leonardo Trasande, MD, MPP, NYU Langone Health
Unfortunately, there is not scientific evidence to confirm safety at any threshold.
It's fair to say that we have a few problems with the US Food and Drug Administration about how it has minded the proverbial store. It's, you know, it's not out of reach to say that the FDA has largely had an F as a grade when it comes to particularly chemicals, intentionally and unintentionally added to foods.
We have 10,000 plus chemicals that are unintentionally or unintentionally added to foods. Many of them are not tested for their safety and some simply a food industry representative can say is generally recognized as safe.
Robin Miller, MD, MHS, HealthDay
So, are we overreacting to reports of PFAS in our food supply? And are we taking it seriously enough?
Leonardo Trasande, MD, MPP, NYU Langone Health
We're not overreacting, and we need to take it even more seriously in the form of government action, ultimately. The French have actually gone ahead and proceeded with a full-scale ban on PFAS, and that's based on the same scientific evidence that isn't prompting the same level of action here in the United States.
Now, I will say that certain states in the US have taken remarkable steps to get ahead of the federal government and taken steps to limit the use of PFAS in manufacturing. That's the biggest way that we're going to get PFAS out of our bodies, out of our lives, and ultimately out of our food.
Robin Miller, MD, MHS, HealthDay
Should we be throwing away all our nonstick cookware?
Leonardo Trasande, MD, MPP, NYU Langone Health
My advice is to switch out to cast iron or stainless steel. The reality is that PFAS are contributing to a host of chronic diseases, from cradle to grave, from womb to tomb.
They make babies shrink, literally contributing to intrauterine growth restriction. We know that PFAS are associated with a wide variety of particularly endocrine related cancers, but kidney cancer is also another example.
We know it contributes to metabolic disruption in adults, as potentially well as heart disease. And so everywhere you look and that doesn't mention the effects on infertility that are well described, everywhere we look, we see consequences.
Robin Miller, MD, MHS, HealthDay
Are children most effected?
Leonardo Trasande, MD, MPP, NYU Langone Health
So, kids are uniquely vulnerable for many reasons. Pound for pound they eat more food, they breathe in more air and drink more water. And so, they have higher exposure. They also have developing organ systems that are susceptible to the consequences of PFAS and other endocrine disrupting chemicals. But we're all susceptible because we're all exposed.
Robin Miller, MD, MHS, HealthDay
What would your advice be to the families you take care of? Like, how best are we going to keep our kids and ourselves healthy and safe?
Leonardo Trasande, MD, MPP, NYU Langone Health
So, avoiding nonstick cooking materials we've already talked about. Cast iron and stainless steel a great would great way to go.
Reducing our plastic footprint is really important not just for the PFAS, but also for other endocrine disrupting chemicals used in plastic like bisphenols and phthalates.
Particularly not machine dishwashing or microwaving plastic materials. Using glass and stainless steel when it's possible.
Also, we know that PFAS and other related chemicals recirculate in dust. Opening the window, for example, can accelerate the egress of dust into the outdoor air — rather than staying in people's homes where they're inhaling it and ingesting it through our natural hand-to-mouth behaviors.
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