People Who Eat More White Rice, Coffee, Eggs and Seafood Has Higher Level Of PFAS In Their Body

A recent research from scientists at Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine disclosed that common meals like eggs and white rice are associated with increased amounts of "forever chemicals" in the body.

egg meal — (Photo : Getty Images/ JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP)

PFAS Chemicals In Food

This is one of the first studies to examine samples from 3,000 expectant mothers and suggests that white rice, coffee, eggs and seafood may be more hazardous to health than other diets. Additionally, it found a correlation between the consumption of red meat and levels of PFOS, one of the most prevalent and harmful PFAS chemicals.

The results, according to the authors, demonstrate the chemicals' pervasiveness and the various ways in which they can find their way into the food chain.

Lead author and Dartmouth researcher Megan Romano stated that the findings clearly highlight the significance of environmental stewardship and preventing PFAS from entering the ecosystem and food chain.

Food can become contaminated with PFAS in a number of ways. The researchers believe that contaminated soil or agricultural water is the cause of it in rice. The chemicals are also frequently found in non-stick cookware, and they may also be present in the cooking water.

Backyard chickens' higher levels of PFAS were linked to their eggs, which researchers discovered. Romano suggested this could be because the birds are more frequently served leftovers from tables. A cheap substitute for fertilizer, PFAS-contaminated sewage sludge has been discovered to taint cattle and may also affect the soil that chickens eat. The birds' food may potentially contain the pollutants.

Researchers believe that soil, brewing water, or coffee beans may all be contaminated. Paper cups and other food packaging frequently contain PFAS, and prior studies have also shown that coffee filters are treated with the chemicals.

Because water contamination is so pervasive, seafood has consistently been confirmed to be polluted with PFAS.

Ban On Chemicals

Even while water pollution control has been the focus of regulators, food is believed to be the most common exposure route.

On the other hand, the Food and Drug Administration has come under fire for allegedly failing to safeguard the country's food supply. It changed its testing procedures, among other things, to make it seem as though the food it analyzes is free of PFAS when, in fact, it contains levels that many activists claim are alarming.

A ban on the chemicals, according to public health activists, is the only practical option to start tackling the issue on a large scale.

According to Romano, the study discovered that diets rich in fruit, whole grains, and dietary fiber were linked to reduced levels of certain PFAS. It is also advantageous to consume a diverse diet so that no one protein source makes up an excessive amount of intake.

"That helps you not only reduce your exposure to PFAS but other contaminants we might anticipate are in food," he added.

PFAS stands for a family of 16,000 chemicals whose negative health implications include cancer. Their creation and production were hardly regulated for a significant portion of time. Still, there has been a sudden surge of interest in them recently following disturbing findings which keep on emerging.

This chemicals don't decompose naturally and have been shown to accumulate in humans so they are termed as forever chemicals.