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   From: drooler@gmail.com   
      
   A new study that checked American women’s breast milk for PFAS   
   contamination detected the toxic chemical in all 50 samples tested, and at   
   levels nearly 2,000 times higher than the level some public health   
   advocates advise is safe for drinking water.   
      
   The findings “are cause for concern” and highlight a potential threat to   
   newborns’ health, the study’s authors say.   
      
   “The study shows that PFAS contamination of breast milk is likely   
   universal in the US, and that these harmful chemicals are contaminating   
   what should be nature’s perfect food,” said Erika Schreder, a co-author   
   and science director with Toxic Free Future, a Seattle-based non-profit   
   that pushes industry to find alternatives to the chemicals.   
      
      
   Chemical giants hid dangers of ‘forever chemicals’ in food packaging   
   Read more PFAS, or per and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a class of   
   about 9,000 compounds that are used to make products like food packaging,   
   clothing and carpeting water and stain resistant. They are called “forever   
   chemicals” because they do not naturally break down and have been found to   
   accumulate in humans.   
      
   They are linked to cancer, birth defects, liver disease, thyroid disease,   
   plummeting sperm counts and a range of other serious health problems.   
      
   The peer-reviewed study, published on Thursday in the Environmental   
   Science and Technology journal, found PFAS at levels in milk ranging from   
   50 parts per trillion (ppt) to more than 1,850ppt.   
      
   There are no standards for PFAS in breast milk, but the public health   
   advocacy organization Environmental Working Group puts its advisory target   
   for drinking water at 1ppt, and the federal Agency for Toxic Substances   
   and Disease Registry, within the Department of Health and Human Services,   
   recommends as little as 14ppt in children’s drinking water.   
      
   Though researchers are concerned by the findings, newborns are difficult   
   to study so there has not been a thorough analysis of how PFAS affect   
   them, said Sheela Sathyanarayana, a co-author of the study and   
   pediatrician with the University of Washington.   
      
   But she added that studies of older children and adults have linked the   
   chemicals to hormonal disruptions and suggests PFAS harm the immune   
   system, which could be especially problematic for infants because breast   
   milk bolsters their immune system.   
      
   Though the study checked a relatively small sample size, the contamination   
   cut across socioeconomic and geographic groupings, which is “what makes   
   the issue so difficult on an individual level”, Sathyanarayana said.   
      
   “What it speaks to is that the chemicals are so ubiquitous that we can’t   
   really predict who will have the highest exposures,” she added.   
      
   The study also runs counter to a chemical industry claim that its newer   
   generation of PFAS that are still in use do not accumulate in humans. It   
   found more than 12 kinds of compounds in about half of the samples, and 16   
   compounds overall, including several that are currently in use.   
      
   Evidence also suggests that the problem is getting worse. The study is the   
   first in the US since 2005 to check breast milk samples, and shows an   
   increase in the newer generation of PFAS, while older compounds that were   
   phased out by industry are still present, and some at high levels.   
      
   The study also analyzed breast milk data from around the world and found   
   PFAS detection frequency is increasing.   
      
   Among steps that the authors recommend pregnant women and mothers take to   
   protect themselves are avoiding greaseproof carryout food packaging, stain   
   guards like ScotchGard, waterproof clothing that uses PFAS, and cooking   
   products with Teflon or similar non-stick properties, though manufacturers   
   often do not disclose the chemicals’ use.   
      
   Moreover, the compounds’ ubiquity makes them all but impossible to avoid,   
   and Schreder said that the best solution is a virtual ban of the entire   
   chemical class, including those that industry claims do not accumulate as   
   much in humans.   
      
   “The study provides more evidence that the PFAS that companies are   
   currently using and putting into products are behaving like the ones they   
   phased out, and they’re also getting into breast milk and exposing   
   children at a very vulnerable phase of development,” she said.   
      
   https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/may/13/pfas-forever-   
   chemicals-breast-milk-us-study   
      
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