New Research Links PFAS to Kidney Damage & Poor Sleep

November 25, 2024, 8:00AM. By Jane Mundy

New Research shows that PFAS is linked to kidney damage and poor sleep, and researchers estimate the spread of PFAS contamination in groundwater.

Santa Clara, CAResearchers have published new studies linking PFAS to kidney damage and poor sleep. These “forever chemicals” are already known to increase a host of health problems, but now researchers are connecting the dots between problems and potential solutions. And another study has found that over 20 percent of people in the U.S. rely on water sources containing detectable amounts of PFAS.

There seems to be a surge in PFAS research. Studies have recently been published, from the EPA to universities nationwide, linking more health problems to this group of chemicals. And new research indicates that more drinking water is contaminated with PFAS.

PFAS and Sleep Problems

At the Keck School of Medicine of USC, research indicates that levels of PFAS in the blood are linked with disruptions to sleep. The study, published last month in the journal Environmental Advances, determined that young adults with higher levels of PFAS in their blood experience worse sleep. And lack of sleep is connected to serious health problems. By studying underlying molecular mechanisms, the scientists are identifying genes involved with the body’s natural defenses and a hormone that regulates sleep.

Scientists hypothesized in the study that PFAS can cross the blood-brain barrier and disrupt the levels of neurotransmitters (e.g., dopamine, glutamate, and serotonin) and calcium homeostasis, which are all important for sleep health. PFAS may also indirectly affect sleep through disrupted immune and metabolic function. One researcher said, “Long term, poor sleep has been connected to outcomes including neurological and behavioral problems, type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease.”

PFAS Kidney Damage

Also from the Keck School of Medicine, researchers found that problems with gut bacteria can help explain the link between “forever chemicals” and kidney damage. The groundbreaking research, which is partially funded by the National Institutes of Health, is attempting to understand the biological mechanisms behind that risk of kidney damage, amongst other health problems, and researchers are “starting to connect the dots between that problem and potential solutions”. Given that chronic kidney disease affects over 10% of the global population and can lead to kidney failure and death, and that studies up until now haven’t examined the mechanisms linking PFAS and kidney function, this study is indeed timely and important.

The researchers’ findings, just published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, found that the connection between PFAS and kidney damage may be tied to dysregulation of the gut microbiome, which is a community of bacteria and other microorganisms living in the digestive tract. They found that individuals in the study (comprising 78 young adults, aged 17 to 22, who were primarily Hispanic, as this group faces a higher risk of chronic kidney disease) with higher PFAS exposure had significantly worse kidney function over time. Specifically, they found that increased PFAS exposure was associated with worse kidney function four years later, and that changes in the gut microbiome and related metabolites explained up to 50% of that decrease in function.

The researchers then linked these effects to reductions in anti-inflammatory metabolites and the bacteria that produce them, as well as increases in inflammatory ones in those with higher PFAS exposure. A senior author of the study said that “Our findings are an important piece of the puzzle about the many different health risks of PFAS, which can provide policymakers with information that helps them develop policies to protect the public from exposure to these chemicals,” Dr Jesse Goodrich, senior author of the study, said in a statement.

PFAS Water Sources

A new study by the U.S. Geological Survey found that more than 20% of people in the U.S. rely on water sources that contain a detectable amount of PFAS. The study, recently published in the journal Science summarized that detection of PFAS in groundwater is particularly concerning, especially for drinking water sources.

The researchers presented a model of PFAS occurrence in groundwater at the depths of drinking water supplies, before any treatment: An estimated 140 million people (over 40% of the U.S. population) rely on groundwater as a source of drinking water.
The model estimated that up to 95 million Americans get their drinking water from a contaminated source. Michigan is particularly worse: about 30% of the total population get their drinking water from a contaminated source. And up to 1.8 million get their water from municipal systems, which are monitored regularly and generally treated to remove PFAS. However, up to 1.4 million people draw their water from unguarded private wells.

Michigan isn’t alone. Florida and California were found to have the most contaminated groundwater sources for municipal systems, while Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New York and Ohio also have the most contaminated private wells. The Environmental Working Group says there are now more than 5,000 confirmed PFAS-contaminated sites across the United States, including at least one in all 50 states, Washington D.C. and two American territories. As of last month, 329 have been identified in Michigan.

It gets worse. Research scientists at the University of Illinois tracked PFAS and microplastics from four Illinois landfills to wastewater treatment plants. Published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, they found that 70% of the biosolids from the treatment plants are used as fertilizers on agricultural land, and 30% are buried in landfills. In other words, most PFAS and microplastics that flow into wastewater treatment plants go right back into the environment.

Not everyone can afford to drink bottled water, and bottled water means more plastic…