Wellness Unmasked: Forever Chemicals & Your Kids: The Hidden PFAS Health Risks You Can’t Ignore
3/24/202627 mincomplete
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3:03Welcome to Wellness Unmasked. I'm Dr.
3:05Nicole Sapphire. I hope everyone's enjoying March and it's starting to look like spring wherever
3:10you are. I just came back from being away for two weeks and I was
3:15cold and wet for about those whole two weeks I was away.
3:19Half of it, I was kind of in a colder climate with a lot of
3:22rain and then we went skiing.
3:24So I was excited to come back home thinking, hey, maybe spring has sprung because
3:28I was getting reports from home that it had been warm and sunny while we
3:33were away. Well, it's cold and rainy.
3:37I guess that we brought that cold and rainy weather with us, but that's okay.
3:41I'm starting to see the buds on trees.
3:43I believe spring is on its way.
3:46I'm going to maintain that positive outlook and hope we don't have a last -minute
3:51snowstorm at the end of March.
3:53Sometimes that happens here in the Northeast, but, you know, fingers crossed we're going to
3:57think positively. I was kind of perusing topics on my flight home, like what are
4:03we going to talk about this week?
4:04And I've tried to stay away from being online while I was away.
4:09That's a big thing I do.
4:11But there's a lot of talk about vaccines, the fact that the CDC is in
4:17an entire state of disarray.
4:19They're running on a deadline.
4:20They have to appoint a CDC director.
4:23They still haven't confirmed the Surgeon General.
4:26The HHS right now, it's kind of a mess.
4:29And I don't want to talk about it, though, because we've talked about it a
4:32lot. But there's not a lot of new information going on right now, so we're
4:36not going to waste this episode talking about that.
4:38But maybe we'll have an update for the rundown later this week.
4:42What I did see was a small study, mind you, very small study, but studies
4:47like this kind of pique my interest because my common sense tells me that this
4:52is an issue. And when I actually see in writing, I get a little bit
4:56nervous and I wonder if I'm doing enough as a mom.
5:00And I wonder if, as a society, we're doing enough.
5:03So let's just talk about it.
5:06Essentially, what I saw was, again, a very small study published in the Journal of
5:12Endocrine Society raising concerns that these forever chemicals, I'm not sure if you've heard that
5:18term before, you probably have.
5:20But when you talk about, quote unquote, forever chemicals, we're talking about PF.
5:24AS, per and polyfluoroalkyl substances.
5:28These chemicals, they're everywhere. They're in our water.
5:31They're in our food. They're in our cookware.
5:33They're also in our clothing.
5:34We've mentioned them here on Wellness Unmasked, but I want to kind of dive into
5:38the study a little bit more, breaking down what the study found, what we already
5:43know about PFAS in health, and most importantly, what we can do about it.
5:48So let's start with this new study.
5:50It was a prospective birth cohort study, which usually when you see studies like this,
5:57they're retrospective, meaning they're looking back at old data, and there's usually a lot of
6:02confounding factors. But this is interesting because this was a prospective study looking at 218
6:09children. Obviously, that's a small number in the world of research and tracking the PFAS
6:14exposure from birth through age 12.
6:17Researchers measured PFAS levels at multiple time points at birth, you know, their cord blood,
6:23seeing how much they were exposed to in utero via their mother, age three, age
6:28eight, and age 12. Then they looked at the bone mineral density at the age
6:3412, because this is a really critical time for bone development as kids in their
6:39pre -adolescence as their hormones are starting to change.
6:42Their growth plates are starting to close.
6:44This is when you look at how strong are those bones?
6:47How well are they growing and developing?
6:50And here's what they found in the study.
6:53Higher levels of PFOA, which is one of the most common PFAS, were consistently associated
7:00with lower bone density, particularly in the forearm.
7:04Forearm is the area between your elbow and your wrist.
7:08We look at these bones when we're trying to gauge the age of a patient's
7:14bones and how well the bones are.
7:16The effect appeared stronger in girls and boys, but most importantly, timing matter, meaning exposure
7:22during certain developmental windows had different impacts on the bone.
7:27So that's interesting, right? Now, again, not a massive study.
7:31I want to continue to say there's always limitations with studies, but this study is
7:37significant because it followed children over time, it looked at real life exposure, and it
7:43reinforces what we've already been seeing in earlier data, that these chemicals may be interfering
7:49with how children are growing, specifically how children build bone during the most critical years
7:55of development. Because bone health, it's not just about childhood.
7:59About 40 % of total bone mass is built during adolescence, you know, kind of
8:05our 11 through 15, 11 through 16 years of age.
8:09And if that process is disrupted, even slightly, it can lower total bone mass, it
8:16can increase fracture risk, it can raise the likelihood of osteoporosis later in life.
8:22And it can also affect, you know, how tall or how well the child grows.
8:28The mechanism here is concerning in the sense that, well, how is this impacting?
8:32Is it because the PFAS are being directly deposited into the bone?
8:37Or are they endocrine disruptors, which we kind of already known about them, meaning they're
8:43interfering with hormones, the hormones that are responsible for making bones grow.
8:48So the research, not just this current study we're talking about, but existing research, is
8:54that these PFAS chemicals, they think that maybe they bind to vitamin D receptors.
9:00And this is impairing bone mineralization, you know, the bone from forming in the first
9:04place. They also have shown that they could be disrupting thyroid hormones.
9:09Thyroid hormones are very important for our overall body formation.
9:13It impacts our physical health, our immune health, our mental health, all of those.
9:18It can also affect sex hormones during puberty, which has been largely discussed in the
9:24sense that we are having lower fertility rates on the female side, also on the
9:29male side. We're also seeing higher levels of polycystic ovarian syndrome and other things.
9:36And it has been pointed to, well, we believe that there are external factors that
9:41are disrupting the normal endocrine channels.
9:44And these forever chemicals are probably one of them.
9:47But it's not just about environmental exposure.
9:50So this is all about biological interference during our development.
9:55And yes, these things come from our environment.
9:58But, you know, it's not just the air we breathe.
10:00We have to take a deeper look into what actually contains all of these forever
10:05chemicals, you know, these endocrine disruptors.
10:08So this study, it's just one piece of a much larger puzzle because PFAS are
10:14called forever chemicals for a reason.
10:16They don't break down in the environment.
10:18They accumulate in the body and they can remain there for years, even decades.
10:23In fact, their half -life in humans is estimated to be anywhere from two years
10:29to nine years. If you think about that, if you think an exposure to a
10:33chemical on day one, and it's going to last for at least nine years throughout
10:39your body, if you are continuously exposed to that chemical, just think about how much
10:44accumulates. Of course, it's going to affect the body.
10:47And the exposure obviously starts early.
10:50Babies are exposed to these forever chemicals.
10:52in utero, because adults are being exposed to them as well.
10:55We already know from other data, these forever chemicals can cross the placenta.
11:01They're also found in breast milk, and children are exposed through water, food, and household
11:07products. For babies that use formula, okay, maybe they're avoiding it from the breast milk,
11:12but let's talk about that water you're mixing the formula in, forever chemicals, in that
11:16water too. Now, other research has linked these forever chemical exposures to what we're talking
11:22about today, you know, the lower bone density.
11:26They've also linked it to reduced growth and lean body mass in early childhood, meaning
11:32the amount of muscle, neurodevelopmental changes, and brain structure differences.
11:37People are continuously talking about the rise in autism rates.
11:42Well, we also have data showing that these forever chemicals are disrupting neurons and brain
11:47development. Also, adverse birth outcomes, including low birth weight and preterm birth.
11:53For women who are exposed to more forever chemicals, their babies are born smaller, and
11:58sometimes they're even born prematurely.
12:01So it's pretty clear that these forever chemicals are affecting us in many different ways.
12:06And beyond children, we're also seeing associations with fertility issues, like I've mentioned, hormonal disruption,
12:13like we've mentioned, cardiovascular effects.
12:15They've actually looked at arteries throughout the body, you know, the little tubes that take
12:20your oxygenated blood from the heart, and it feeds the nutrients all throughout the body.
12:26Instead of just these plaques that we have always seen, these plaques that are created
12:30by cholesterol that cause our atherosclerotic disease or heart disease or peripheral vascular disease you've
12:37heard about, well, now that they're starting to look in these arteries, and do you
12:40know what else they're seeing?
12:41They're seeing microplastics. They're seeing forever chemicals.
12:45All of these external things that we are exposed to are building up into our
12:50vascular system. So if our poor diet wasn't enough, we have forever chemicals that are
12:57trying to narrow all these blood vessels.
12:59And as we know, as they get narrowed, it can cause stroke, dementia, heart attack,
13:05peripheral neuropathy, peripheral vascular disease, and all these other things.
13:08It can affect us in so many different ways.
13:10Kidney disease and other things, blindness.
13:13I mean, the list goes on and on and on.
13:15It also can affect our immune system.
13:17So while this new study is focusing just on bone health, the broader concern is
13:22absolutely clear. These chemicals are interacting with not just one part of our body, but
13:28our entire body. Our entire health is being negatively impacted by these forever chemicals.
13:34And honestly, it's a big wastebasket in the sense that if you're talking about forever
13:38chemicals, you might as well talk about microplastics and nanoplastics because they're all part of
13:43the same thing. They're all part of the exposure because of all of these modern
13:48day inventions, which we love so much.
13:50But when they were invented, they didn't think about the long -term consequences of the
13:54exposure to some of the materials that they were putting in things that were making
13:59them so convenient. Like, what are the most common sources for these forever chemicals?
14:05Well, things that we love, things that make our life super convenient.
14:09So drinking water, we've talked about this, especially near industrial sites, military bases, nonstick cookware,
14:17fast food packaging, and any sort of plastic wrappers, stain -resistant fabrics and carpets.
14:24That's right. We just spray it all with chemicals.
14:27It's great for stopping stains, but we're exposed to it.
14:32Think about when you're laying on the carpet, especially kids love to lay on the
14:36carpets. My kids love being on the carpets.
14:38They play with the dogs on there.
14:39Well, what are they absorbing through their skin when they're laying on that carpet?
14:45Personal care products like cosmetics, lotions, lipsticks, anything that you're putting on your body is
14:52being absorbed into your body because our skin is one of our largest organ systems.
14:57And it absorbs things. So if you're laying your skin, I mean, I put on
15:02lotion at least twice a day.
15:04What am I actually putting on my body?
15:06If you look at some of the ingredients, it's concerning.
15:09It's not like we're just putting on olive oil, which is probably the only thing
15:13we should be rubbing our body in.
15:14And I'm not just saying that because I'm Italian and I'm a fan of olive
15:18oil as a moisturizer. But the reality is most of the stuff that we put
15:23all over our body has chemicals in it.
15:25And most importantly, though, kids are often more exposed than adults, mainly because it's affecting
15:32them more because their body's constantly changing.
15:34So as they're being exposed to this, their cells are dividing a little bit faster
15:39and it can really disrupt their formation.
15:43So here's the part, for me at least, that matters the most.
15:48I hate talking about some of these things because it's like, well, we can't avoid
15:51these forever chemicals really unless we're going to go and live in a glass bubble
15:57and never be exposed to any sort of toxin.
15:59I mean, that's just not reality.
16:00It's not reality in the modern industrialized world that we live in.
16:04But there really are some things that you can do to decrease exposure to these
16:09forever chemicals, especially if you are considering getting pregnant.
16:13If you're pregnant, if you have young children in the home, you should really start
16:17taking some of these steps.
16:18I'm going to try and start taking.
16:19I already have actually in my home, but here's some easy things that you can
16:24do. Filter your water. Don't just take it out of the tap.
16:28Look for filters that are certified for PFAS removal.
16:32They will actually say that on the labels.
16:35Specifically, I don't know if you wanna write this down, but if you specifically look
16:39for NSF slash ANSI 53 or 58, these are supposed to be certified to remove
16:47PFAS from the water. This is one of the highest impact changes you can make
16:53because that is one of the biggest sources of our consumption and exposure of these
16:58Forever Chemicals is through the water that we drink.
17:01Also, rethink cookware. Listen, I get it.
17:05Nonstick pans, they're amazing. I used to love them.
17:09We've actually gotten rid of nonstick pans in my household.
17:12We have now switched to ceramic and cast iron, and that's all we use.
17:18And we don't use plastic spatulas on these, just again, as a way to reduce
17:23the microplastics. Listen, ceramic, not nearly as easy to cook eggs on.
17:29Full disclosure, and you know, we love eggs in our household.
17:33I have hens. We cook eggs maybe four or five days a week because I
17:38just think they're incredible for nutrients and protein.
17:40And since we have the hens outside, it's a, you know, I am able to
17:45control what's going into the hens and therefore what's being consumed by my family.
17:51I do not love cooking eggs on ceramic, but I will tell you it's worth
17:55it. In my opinion, it's worth the headache a little bit instead of having a
18:00nonstick pan. We do have one tiny nonstick pan in case we ever really want
18:05it for eggs, but I'm trying really hard not to use it.
18:09But I do reserve the right to use it occasionally because I'll tell you, sometimes
18:13it's very difficult eggs on those ceramic pans.
18:16Now, you should try to reduce package and fast foods for many reasons.
18:20The forever chemicals, the microplastics, and the fact that they're usually ultra processed, which there's
18:27a plethora of data that tells us ultra processed is bad for our health anyway.
18:31So those takeout containers, anything that's wrapped in plastic, if you can avoid them, I
18:38highly recommend avoiding it. When you're at the grocery store, do your best to stay
18:42in the periphery of the grocery store for your fresh fruits and vegetables and meats
18:48and avoid everything in the center because that tends to be more ultra processed, tends
18:52to be more plastic in that area, whatever you can do.
18:55So anything that's stain resistant, you know, stain resistant clothes, stain resistant blankets and carpets,
19:04anything labeled waterproof, wrinkle -free, stain resistant, high probability they have some sort of PFAS,
19:13you know, forever chemicals in it, unless it is specifically labeled PFAS -free.
19:19So, you know, as you're shopping for things, you can actually look for that on
19:22the label. PFAS -free, that's the way to go.
19:25It sounds horrible, but like raincoats, most of them have forever chemicals in it.
19:30It's awful. I'm sorry. We're all still going to keep wearing raincoats.
19:33I get it. But I just want to make you aware of these things, right?
19:37In your house, you want to use HEPA filters if possible.
19:41Make sure you're constantly changing your HVAC filters.
19:44Try to reduce exposure through the air because we take the air from the outside
19:48and it's coming inside. Dust in our house can kind of cling to those forever
19:53chemicals. So I have some air purifiers in our household.
19:57You know, we do try to change our HVAC filters on a regular basis.
20:00But on top of that, I do have some HEPA indoor filters.
20:05One, because a couple people in our household have really bad seasonal allergies.
20:09So I try to keep the inside as clean as possible.
20:12We also have dogs. And dogs bring in crap from the outside.
20:15So we brush them, we clean them on a weekly basis, and I just put
20:20in extra filters in size just to try and decrease that dust and any other
20:25toxin exposure. And I don't know, that's really what you can do from a lifestyle
20:30perspective. We also, since we can't reduce our exposure entirely, some of the big things
20:38you can do, especially in kids, make sure that they're getting enough calcium and vitamin
20:41D, since we know PFAS from this study affects the vitamin D absorption.
20:46So that's how it affects the bones.
20:48So make sure your kids are getting vitamin D.
20:50In the wintertime, consider vitamin D supplementation because if your kids are outside a good
20:57amount, you know, you don't have to be outside a ton to get adequate vitamin
21:00D exposure from the sun.
21:02But in the wintertime, when it's dark and gloomy and we have shorter sunlight hours,
21:07you may want to consider vitamin D supplements if they don't drink enough milk.
21:11I mean, my kids, thankfully, love milk.
21:14They have been drinking whole milk since they were one year old when they stopped
21:17breastfeeding and they have a glass of milk every single day.
21:21They also get adequate sun exposure because vitamin D, it's crucial for your physical health,
21:26your mental health, and something that I have really tried to educate my children on.
21:31You want to make sure they're also doing weight -bearing exercises.
21:34Weight -bearing exercises keep your bones strong, not just kids, adults too.
21:39Pre -menopausal, perimenopausal, post -menopausal.
21:42Ladies, I'm talking to you.
21:44Weightlifting, very important for our bone health as we get older.
21:47And no, I don't want your kids going and lifting iron in the gym, but
21:51they absolutely can be lifting light weights because you want to make sure that they
21:56have the muscle mass that is supporting their bone structure and that'll help them have
22:00less bone injuries. Kids break bones all the time.
22:03So if you have strong muscle around the bones, they're less likely to break their
22:08bones. You know, really, you can get all of this from just a nutrient -dense
22:12diet. If your kids are getting enough fruits and vegetables and meats and dairy, they're
22:18getting what they need unless they have some sort of metabolic or nutritional deficiency, which
22:23obviously you want to talk to your doctor about.
22:25But kids, for the most part, don't need to be taking supplements.
22:28They should be just having nutritious meals and getting enough exercise and sun exposure.
22:35So obviously, you know where I land on this.
22:38This new study, it's small, but it's meaningful, and it just adds to a huge
22:43growing body of evidence that environmental exposures are really shaping long -term health in ways
22:49that we're only beginning to understand.
22:52And when it comes to our kids, the bar should be set so much higher.
22:55We don't need to panic, but we also don't need to wait for absolute certainty.
23:00We don't need to wait for five or ten years for them to say, okay,
23:03we've reviewed the data for the last 20 years, and uh -oh, these frameric chemicals,
23:09they're impacting us negatively. There's enough evidence at this point for us to say we
23:14need to be making some changes.
23:16I'm making changes in my household.
23:18I'm imploring you to make some changes in your household.
23:21Because by the time we have perfect data, the exposure's already happened.
23:25It's already accumulated. So this is about awareness.
23:29It's about making some smart choices where we can, reducing risk whenever possible, and just
23:34pushing for better transparency and regulation where needed.
23:37Because protecting long -term health, it doesn't just happen to have, you know, your doctor
23:42doesn't have to tell you this.
23:43Your doctor's probably not going to have a conversation with you about Forever Chemicals, okay?
23:47This is on you. Take control.
23:49Take control of your household.
23:50Take control of your kids' environment and also what you're exposed to as well.
23:56We only live once. So it starts in the environment that we create for ourselves
24:00and our families every single day.
24:03Thank you so much for listening to this important conversation on Wellness Unmasse.
24:07I hope you learned something.
24:08I hope you think about it.
24:10Maybe you're going to make some changes.
24:11Maybe you won't. Spread the word.
24:13Spread the good word. Because I think this information's very important.
24:17I'm Dr. Nicole Sapphire. Make sure you listen to Wellness Unmasse on iHeart Radio, Apple
24:22Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts.
24:24And we'll see you next time.
24:27Hi, this is Dr. Nicole Sapphire from Wellness Unmasse.
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