Gut microbes could be key to fighting toxic, long-lasting ‘forever chemicals,’ research says

A new study suggests gut microbes can help protect humans from toxic, long-lasting “forever chemicals.”

Scientists at the University of Cambridge have identified that a natural “gut microbiome could play a helpful role in removing toxic PFAS chemicals from our body” following a study on mice, according to a media release. 

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, better known as PFAS, “are widely used, long lasting chemicals, components of which break down very slowly over time,” the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said. 

“We found that certain species of human gut bacteria have a remarkably high capacity to soak up PFAS from their environment at a range of concentrations, and store these in clumps inside their cells,” Dr. Kiran Patil, from the University of Cambridge’s MRC Toxicology Unit and senior author of the report, said in a statement. 

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“Due to aggregation of PFAS in these clumps, the bacteria themselves seem protected from the toxic effects,” he said. 

Researchers say that more than 4,700 PFAS chemicals are widely used today. Some quickly exit the body through urine; others could linger for years.

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“We’re all being exposed to PFAS through our water and food – these chemicals are so widespread that they’re in all of us,” Dr. Anna Lindell, a researcher at the University of Cambridge’s MRC Toxicology Unit and first author of the study, said in a statement.

“PFAS were once considered safe, but it’s now clear that they’re not. It’s taken a long time for PFAS to become noticed because at low levels they’re not acutely toxic. But they’re like a slow poison,” she said. 

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Patil and Lindell are now working to create probiotic supplements to increase the amount of the beneficial microbes in people’s guts to help protect against harms from PFAS.

Until then, researchers say people can help protect themselves from PFAS exposure by avoiding PFAS-coated cooking pans and by using a “good water filter.”

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“Given the scale of the problem of PFAS ‘forever chemicals’, particularly their effects on human health, it’s concerning that so little is being done about removing these from our bodies,” Patil said.