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> [...] PFAS, which have been linked to a range of serious health issues including liver damage, high cholesterol, reduced immune responses and several kinds of

> [...] PFAS, which have been linked to a range of serious health issues including liver damage, high cholesterol, reduced immune responses and several kinds of cancer

mrguyorama 4y ago
The links are rather tenuous at best right now. The only thing we have strong evidence for is possible hormonal effects, which is bad, but plastic particles are probably not giving you liver failure. Liver damage is super common in the US, with 1 out of 3ish people having some amount of fatty liver, because america is stupidly fat
elzbardico 4y ago
There are a few weak studies that “suggest” a “possible association” between some PFAS chemicals and some specific health outcomes. Far from a robust evidence corpus as you seem to believe and as propagated by the usual suspect from the press. Those papers are almost always cited out of context, especially the one from the USAF from 1973. The concentrations on this one were gigantic and were based on an animal model, not on actual human outcomes in the real world with realistic exposure values. Study after study with workers dealing directly with the substance has failed to find any mortality effect. Other studies like the one pointing to a slight impact on birth weight failed to account for that the results are most likely out to be primarily a confounding effect, in that pregnant mothers with reduced kidney function tend to have higher blood serum levels of PFAS, as well as babies with lower birth weight, so PFAS doesn’t cause the lower birth weight. The studies on immune function with high concentrations of PFAS substances failed to find a causal link, and even then, it was done with a sense that has been largely phased out of industrial use. Let's not forget that organization at the forefront of the PFAS scare, the EWG (Environmental Working Group), is an NGO behind other dubious scaremongering activism like linking vaccines to autism. The modus operandi and the conspiracy theory link and moral outrage are the same, but this scare is more palatable for a progressive public. Still, the PFAS scare is currently, based on the current scientific evidence, as baseless as the anti-vax crowd arguments.

> [...] PFAS, which have been linked to a range of serious health issues including liver damage, high cholesterol, reduced immune responses and several kinds of cancer

mrguyorama 4y ago

The links are rather tenuous at best right now. The only thing we have strong evidence for is possible hormonal effects, which is bad, but plastic particles are probably not giving you liver failure. Liver damage is super common in the US, with 1 out of 3ish people having some amount of fatty liver, because america is stupidly fat

elzbardico 4y ago

There are a few weak studies that “suggest” a “possible association” between some PFAS chemicals and some specific health outcomes. Far from a robust evidence corpus as you seem to believe and as propagated by the usual suspect from the press. Those papers are almost always cited out of context, especially the one from the USAF from 1973. The concentrations on this one were gigantic and were based on an animal model, not on actual human outcomes in the real world with realistic exposure values. Study after study with workers dealing directly with the substance has failed to find any mortality effect. Other studies like the one pointing to a slight impact on birth weight failed to account for that the results are most likely out to be primarily a confounding effect, in that pregnant mothers with reduced kidney function tend to have higher blood serum levels of PFAS, as well as babies with lower birth weight, so PFAS doesn’t cause the lower birth weight. The studies on immune function with high concentrations of PFAS substances failed to find a causal link, and even then, it was done with a sense that has been largely phased out of industrial use. Let's not forget that organization at the forefront of the PFAS scare, the EWG (Environmental Working Group), is an NGO behind other dubious scaremongering activism like linking vaccines to autism. The modus operandi and the conspiracy theory link and moral outrage are the same, but this scare is more palatable for a progressive public. Still, the PFAS scare is currently, based on the current scientific evidence, as baseless as the anti-vax crowd arguments.