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   From: munch@munch.com   
      
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   There’s growing evidence that regular exposure to man-made   
   “forever” chemicals, which are used in a variety of household   
   products, are linked to rising cancer rates.   
      
   A new study that examined the correlation between liver cancer   
   and the presence of these chemicals in humans found that people   
   with the highest levels of exposure have 350% greater odds of   
   eventually developing the disease.   
      
   The term “forever” chemicals refers to the more than 4,700   
   available types of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl   
   substances, or PFAS, used widely across manufacturing industries   
   — named as such because the substances degrade very slowly and   
   build up over time, in soil, drinking water and in the body.   
      
   PFAS were first introduced in the 1930s as a revolutionary   
   material used in the creation of nonstick cookware — hello,   
   Teflon — and soon adapted to all sorts of products and packaging   
   — from construction materials to cosmetics — that benefit from   
   its liquid- and fire-resistant properties, as noted by the   
   Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.   
      
   Though incredibly useful, such chemicals have since been linked   
   to the onset of cancer and other illnesses in lab animals.   
   Following strong anecdotal evidence that perfluorooctanesulfonic   
   acids (PFOS) alongside another common substance called   
   perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) were making consumers sick, the   
   Environmental Protection Agency in 2006 ordered eight   
   multinational manufacturing corporations represented in the US   
   to phase out the use of such chemicals. Nevertheless, as their   
   nickname implies, PFOS and PFOA are still being detected in   
   foreign products, in groundwater and in people.   
      
   The current study, published in JHEP Reports, is the first to   
   show a clear association between any PFAS and nonviral   
   hepatocellular carcinoma (the most common type of liver cancer)   
   in humans, too.   
      
   “This builds on the existing research, but takes it one step   
   further,” said Jesse Goodrich, a postdoctoral public health   
   researcher at Keck School of Medicine, in a University of   
   Southern California news release. “Liver cancer is one of the   
   most serious endpoints in liver disease and this is the first   
   study in humans to show that PFAS are associated with this   
   disease.”   
      
   Showing an association between PFAS and cancer in humans hasn’t   
   been easy for scientists.   
      
   “Part of the reason there has been few human studies is because   
   you need the right samples,” added Keck School of Medicine   
   professor Veronica Wendy Setiawan. “When you are looking at an   
   environmental exposure, you need samples from well before a   
   diagnosis because it takes time for cancer to develop.”   
      
   To make this leap, researchers were given access to the   
   Multiethnic Cohort Study database, which entails a survey of   
   cancer development in more than 200,000 residents of Hawaii as   
   well as Los Angeles, Calif., conducted by the University of   
   Hawaii.   
      
   Their search was narrowed to 100 survey participants — 50 of   
   them with liver cancer and 50 without — whose available blood   
   and tissue samples were sufficient for analysis. Researchers   
   were looking for traces of “forever” chemicals present in the   
   body before the group with cancer became ill.   
      
   They reportedly found several types of PFAS among participants,   
   with PFOS appearing most prominently among those in the group   
   with liver cancer. Indeed, their investigation revealed that   
   those who fell in the top 10% of PFOS exposure were 4.5 times   
   more likely to develop hepatocellular carcinoma when compared to   
   those with the least exposure.   
      
   The clear link between PFAS and cancer in humans is crucial to   
   further study on how these chemicals interfere with biological   
   processes. Per the current findings, USC scientists now believe   
   that high concentrations of PFOS in some subjects had impaired   
   the liver’s ability to metabolize glucose, bile acid and   
   branched-chain amino acids, resulting in unhealthy levels of fat   
   accumulation in the organ, otherwise known as nonalcoholic fatty   
   liver disease — a high-risk factor for liver cancer.   
      
   That’s why many scientists agree it’s no coincidence that the   
   advent and widespread use of “forever” chemicals correlates with   
   a rise in liver disease, cancer and other illnesses.   
      
      
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