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PFAS Contamination General - We're all Mudbloods now
Created in a DuPont lab, and subsequently marketed to the general public by 3M, PFAS (Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are chemicals that have been used for nearly a century now due to their ability to resist fantastic environmental conditions with little to no wear. And though this has allowed us to create amazing scientific advancements, it has been known since the 70s that as PFAS break down. They bioaccumulate in human bodies, causing many health problems.
Why PFAS is so hard to destroy Pictured: perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), one of the first commercial PFAS produced by 3M.
For those who don’t know, the unlabeled junctures where lines intersect in a molecule’s structure diagram are carbon atoms (They are unlabeled because they’re so common). If you notice, all of the carbon atoms are surrounded by atoms of Fluorine (F), and because Fluorine is one of the most electronegative elements on the periodic table, it holds onto its electrons very closely once a bond is formed, making its connection with Carbon (C-F bonds) one of the strongest in nature. This is the case for the entire “Tail” of a PFAS chemical.
The exception is the “head” of the molecule, which contains a reactive functional group (part of a molecule that more easily bonds to other molecules). In the case of PFOA, it is a carboxylic acid, which can bond to plenty of things.
Understanding this, we can understand how PFAS works in the wild: >A piece of paper is coated with a PFAS chemical by a company wanting to make the paper waterproof, weatherproof, etc.
>The “head” of the molecule bonds to the paper, while the C-F bonds in the “tail” protect the paper from weathering.
>Over time, the paper weakens until the bond between the “head” and the piece of paper breaks
>The still-stable molecule is released into nature and is swept away in a raindrop into the soil
>A stalk of corn growing nearby absorbs the PFAS through its roots, and it travels up to the ear of corn that is ripening.
>A human eats the piece of corn, and the PFAS chemical is now in the body, and with this new environment, has a million new things to bond with/react to, causing many many problems.
Basically any bodily system that this chemical can get into, it can harm. This is to the point where the EPA considers the “safe threshold” of exposure to PFAS at 0 parts per billion, that is to say, the only “safe” exposure is none at all.
But as stated before, we have had access to this chemical for nigh on a century, and we (by we i mean DuPont, 3M, and others) have put it into just about every product and every industry imaginable. And so we are at the point where 98% (on the low end of the estimate) of the population has one (or usually more) PFAS contaminants circulating through their bodies.
In the early 2000s, there were measures taken to phase out PFOA and PFOS, and studies have shown that levels for these two PFAS have gone down dramatically among the general population. That said, there are still around 300 PFAS chemicals being used in almost all products we consume that have yet to be closely monitored like PFOA and PFOS have been.
In short: >Citizens complain about PFAS contamination and adverse health effects
>Government demands companies phase out 2 of the several hundred PFAS actively in use
>Companies phase them out and switch to one of the many alternatives which are just as (and sometimes more, in the case of more-mobile short chain PFAS) harmful.
>”We did it Patrick! We stopped the contamination!”
Jokes aside, this is a genuine health crisis that needs to be addressed by our respective governments. But as we all know, the hand of the government moves slowly (unless it's to support war criminals and/or pedophiles).
Therefore, I am hoping this thread can be used as a general for PFAS related news, academic articles, personal experiences, doomer spiraling and brainstorms as to how we can remove PFAS from:
-Our bodies
-Our soil
-Our water
-Our products
-Our shopping habits
Below is a post I made on some trends I found on how to remove PFAS from the body, why it's difficult, and what’s proven to work as of now.
Please cite sources, debates and bantz are fine w/ me personally as long as it's relatively on topic.
Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional, and this is not medical advice, this is merely for informational purposes.
Most PFAS that bioaccumulates in the body comes from what already accumulated in what we eat/drink, with 2nd place coming from water we touch in the context of bathing/washing hands (as it has been found that many PFAS can penetrate the skin barrier). With marginal increases in bodily PFAS coming from atmospheric conditions in things like dust and rain.
With this in mind, the best immediate solution is to use Activated Carbon or Reverse Osmosis (RO) water filters for your daily drinking. Activated Carbon works in the removal range of around 90-95%ish for long chain PFAS, with short chain PFAS being a lot more difficult to consistently filter. Another issue is that the filters in Activated Carbon water purifiers have a set capacity that once filled, no longer filters PFAS effectively, all this really means though is that you have to be diligent as to when you replace your filters. I personally recommend RO as it is near perfect filtration, but as long as you have some kind of water filter, you’re already on the right track.
There are RO/Activated Carbon filters for entire households, but they are expensive:
RO household-level Filters: $3-8kish, with a couple hundred spent annually to replace all filter parts if you are keeping up with it.
Carbon filters- $800-2kish, there is a lot of variety in the type of systems that use carbon filters, so some research into particular models will likely be necessary.
Removing PFAS from the body:
This is an area of research that is slowly growing, but as of now there are still minimal clear answers as to what works and what doesn’t. The issue with PFAS is due to the activation site “head” being reactive to many compounds in the body, and it can even mimic things like bile salts. This means that short and long chain PFAS will cycle through the body over and over again rather than being naturally filtered out by the liver or kidneys like other toxins. (Dzierlenga)
One of the most promising avenues of PFAS reduction in the body is the increase in fiber consumption. As mentioned before, PFAS is often mistaken by the body as a bile salt. When a person eats food, this contaminated bile is secreted into the liver. If a person is eating a lot of fiber (plant and grain fiber had the most promising results), the research showed an inverse relationship between the amount consumed and the PFAS present in blood.In other words, the more fiber a patient consumed, the lower their PFAS levels were.
This is because the fiber consumed turns into a sticky matrix that excels at capturing bile salts and bile-salt-like things like PFAS as it cycles through the liver. A good visual for this is that jelly layer that appears around chia seeds when they are hydrated in those health drinks. After the PFAS is captured by the fiber, it is excreted through the colon and removed from the body.
That said, the amount that the PFAS was reduced by hovered (at most) around 10%. So this method is not ideal for someone with extremely high PFAS levels that needs to reduce them quickly, it is more suited as a maintenance routine for the average person.
Ideally, you should employ this in practice by taking your fiber either with your meal (like eating a cup of beans alongside your other food), or 20-30 minutes before it (like drinking a glass of psyllium husk fiber before going to lunch).
Specifically, the most scientifically backed-up fiber that’s been found thus far is beta-glucan in oats (Schlezinger), which are even more exceptional at removing PFAS from the body than most fibers, all the while still helping the body maintain healthy homeostasis.
Remember too that if you are taking fiber daily, it can inadvertently cause deficiencies in other vitamins that get caught up in the gel matrix in the liver. To avoid this, take your vitamins a couple hours before or after your fiber, just so it can absorb properly into your body.
Extreme solutions
If you’ve been tested and have a high amount of PFAS in your blood, talk to your doctor about using Cholestyramine (A cholesterol medication), which is a medical-grade resin that stays in your gut and dramatically reduces PFAS within weeks (studies showed a 20-60% decrease). However this is not recommended long term as there are uncomfortable side effects, and it requires a prescription (Genius, et al.).
Another proven way to remove PFAS quickly is bloodletting. When donating blood, a patient can expect to see a 4-5% drop in serum PFAS contamination. Plasma donation was also highly effective, making PFAS levels drop by 30% over the course of a year (Gasiorowski).
Stating this again, I am not a medical professional and I hold no accountability for people’s actions upon providing this information. This is for informational purposes and should not be taken as medical advice without consulting your designated healthcare professional first.
TLDR: Eating lots of fiber is the easiest + most provable way to get rid of PFAS in your body that we currently have...but it's not that great
Sources:
Dzierlenga, M. W., Keast, D. R., & Longnecker, M. P. (2021). The concentration of several perfluoroalkyl acids in serum appears to be reduced by dietary fiber. Environment International, 146, 106292. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2020.106292
Schlezinger, J. J., Biswas, K., Garcia, A., Heiger-Bernays, W. J., & Bello, D. (2025). An oat fiber intervention for reducing PFAS body burden: A pilot study in male C57Bl/6 J mice. Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, 495, 117188. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.taap.2024.117188
Gasiorowski, R., Forbes, M. K., Silver, G., et al. (2022). Effect of plasma and whole blood donation on plasma perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances concentrations in firefighters: A randomized clinical trial. JAMA Network Open, 5(4), e226325. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.6325
Genuis, Stephen J et al. “Gastrointestinal Elimination of Perfluorinated Compounds Using Cholestyramine and Chlorella pyrenoidosa.” ISRN toxicology vol. 2013 657849. 9 Sep. 2013, doi:10.1155/2013/657849
the way I see it, humanity has survived much worse, and to uplift every single inconvenience into a crisis is how you weaken your immune system and become more vulnerable to health issues
just improvise, adapt, overcome
The traditional ways are always the best. Perhaps we can consult with the witches?
I'm not worried about it. I've lived in areas with superfund levels of PFAS groundwater contamination and I've got nothing to show for it after decades.
If shit like this worries you then take up smoking. Everything else becomes a second-order effect if you smoke.
I'm not worried about it. I've lived in areas with superfund levels of PFAS groundwater contamination and I've got nothing to show for it after decades.
The PFAS halflife in the human body can range from weeka to years, and in nature the compounds are predicted to last for hundreds of years, and they keep producing more products with more PFAS. So that means more PFAS in nature building up, more in the body, more of the metabolic load on individuals. Until we have a consistent and cost efficienct way to remove pfas from nature, we (we meaning they) are poisoning our kids/grandkids/great grandkids to a greater and greater degree
PFAS is showing up everywhere around here because its used in fire fighting foam.
A gasoline tanker, transformer, gas pump, etc catches on fire and they would flood it with foam. The foam washed in to the storm drains and then in to the rivers. Its showing up in the well water around some firehouses now too because of training that was done at a lot of them.
Removal of perfluoroalkyl acids in industrial waste-landfill leachates by bacteria isolated from river sediments polluted with perfluoroalkyl acids (Inui, et al.)
One of the best ways to find bioremedial solutions is to search in already polluted areas, since they are more likely to be filled with native bacteria that have already adapted to high-stress, polluted conditions. Scientists collected sediment samples from the Samondo River in Japan, specifically focusing on areas near the Tatsumi and Samon bridges. From these samples, they isolated seven types of bacteria that had evolved to survive the river's unique chemical makeup. A key discovery was that different strains had specific specialties: a strain called Priestia megaterium (PmB) was most effective at targeting PFOA, while Xanthobacter autotrophicus (XaP) was the best for removing PFOS. Remember that PFOA/PFOS are both long chain PFAS.
The primary way these bacteria remove toxins is through adsorption, where the chemicals stick to the outside of the bacterial cells. This process is driven by hydrophobicity, which means that water-repelling molecules are easier to catch. The strain XaP was particularly successful because it produces extracellular polymeric substance, a sticky coating of sugars and proteins. This sponge-like layer traps the chemicals on the cell surface. The researchers found that the physical shape of the molecules also mattered; linear chemicals with straight structures (Like PFOA/PFOS) were easier to trap, while branched chemicals (PFAS that have more than one “tail”) had a molecular shape that made them harder to fit into the bacteria's trap.
In the final phase of the study, the XaP bacteria were tested on leachate, the contaminated liquid runoff that seeps out of industrial landfills. The results were very promising: the bacteria achieved a 97% reduction in the chemical PFHxS within just one week. Most importantly, because the adsorption levels alone couldn't account for such a massive drop, scientists believe the bacteria may be transforming or breaking down the chemical, rather than just keeping it in containment.
All around it’s a great example of bioremediation at work.
>So can’t we just let nature do it all by itself?
These bacteria developed these niche mechanisms that can break down the durable nature of PFAS over millions of years due to their unique ecological circumstances. They’re not everywhere and can be hard to find/identify/replicate elsewhere. And even in this article, the bacteria had to aggregate together to avoid direct contact with the PFAS, because it was still toxic to them.
The airforce firefighting equipment contaminating the groundwater where i grew up probably was a contrubitor to me having had leukeamia, couldnt attend a clinic to get tested due to been bedridden on the cancer ward when they were doing it
You don't have the slightest idea of what it's composed of, how it works, what scales it works on and what its capabilities are. Banning leaded gas was good. Banning asbestos was good. Regulating radioactive sources was good. Cracking down on PFAS will be good too.
Jokes aside, this is a genuine health crisis that needs to be addressed by our respective governments. But as we all know, the hand of the government moves slowly (unless it's to support war criminals and/or pedophiles).
Funny you say this, considering what this sick fuck did to his children.
the sentencing order signed by Delaware Superior Court Judge Jan R. Jurden reportedly considered that the "defendant will not fare well" in prison and the eight-year sentence was suspended. -wiki
Apologies for the mostly off topic, but too many people do not understand the devastation done to the people by the DuPont family, or how monstrous they were behind closed doors. A true example of the very fears that live in the hearts of many Americans today. Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Right down to our very bloodstreams.
Can't say i'm surprised, there is no hell hot enough for these world poisoners.
This is an elaboration on the information found in one of the sources in the OP, focusing on how PFAS harms the body.
PART OF THE BODY AFFECTED: The Immune System.
Health Effects:
Reduced Response to Vaccines: Higher serum concentrations of PFAS are associated with a significant reduction in antibody production for diphtheria and tetanus. Specifically, a 2-fold increase in the concentration of major PFCs in child serum was associated with a -49% difference in overall antibody concentration.
Increased Risk of Childhood Infections: Prenatal exposure is correlated with a higher incidence of airway and throat infections, as well as diarrhea, in children up to age 10.
Associations with Chronic Autoimmune Conditions: Strong evidence suggests a link between PFOA exposure and the prevalence and incidence of ulcerative colitis, particularly in highly exposed community and worker cohorts.
Why?
The concordance between animal models and human data indicates that PFAS modifies the immune response by behaving similarly to fatty acids. As modulators of immune cell function, PFAS interfere with the signaling required for an adaptive immune response. This fatty-acid mimicry allows PFAS to effectively suppress the body’s ability to produce necessary antibodies, compromising infectious disease resistance.
The systemic distribution of these acids, facilitated by protein binding, naturally leads from immunotoxicity to endocrine and thyroid disruption.
PART OF THE BODY AFFECTED: The Thyroid Gland.
Health Effects: Clinical outcomes associated with PFAS exposure include:
Probable Link to Thyroid Disease: Research has identified a probable link between PFOA exposure and thyroid disease, particularly hypothyroidism in women and children.
Alteration of Serum Total Thyroxine Levels: PFAS exposure is negatively associated with total thyroxine (T4) levels, suggesting these chemicals can induce subclinical thyroid dysfunction. Thyroxine is a thyroid hormone that helps with bone health, heart and muscle development, and brain health.
Impact on Newborns: Higher levels of specific PFAS, including PFOA, PFNA, and PFDA, have been detected in newborns diagnosed with congenital hypothyroidism.
Why?
PFAS interfere with thyroid function through multiple pathways. They are known to interact with and bind to thyroid hormone-binding proteins, such as transthyretin (TTR), which can displace natural hormones. Additionally, PFAS have been shown to interfere with thyroid peroxidase (TPO) enzyme activity in vitro, an essential component in the synthesis of thyroid hormones.
While the thyroid manages systemic metabolism, the liver serves as the primary site for the physical accumulation and metabolic processing of these substances.
PART OF THE BODY AFFECTED: The Liver and Metabolic System.
Health Effects: Data on hepatic impacts reveal a consistent pattern of metabolic distress:
Increased Liver Enzymes: High levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) serve as a clinical biomarker indicating potential liver damage and hepatocellular hypertrophy.
Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD): There is supportive evidence that PFAS induce steatosis (fatty liver), which is the preclinical stage of NAFLD. This association is often more pronounced in individuals on a "Western" or high-fat diet.
Lipid Dysregulation: PFAS exposure is significantly linked to increases in total and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. However, researchers must account for a saturable mechanism: serum lipids increase rapidly at background levels (1–10 ng/mL) but then plateau at higher exposures, meaning associations can be missed in high-dose worker cohorts.
Why?
The underlying mechanism involves the activation of nuclear receptors, most notably the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα). When PFAS activate these receptors inappropriately, it disrupts fatty acid transport and bile acid metabolism. This leads to increased lipid accumulation within liver cells and higher levels of circulating cholesterol.
The processing of these substances eventually moves from hepatic storage to the renal system for filtration and excretion.
PART OF THE BODY AFFECTED: The Kidneys.
Health Effects: Renal health impacts associated with PFAS include:
Diminished Glomerular Filtration Rates (GFR): Exposure is linked to lower GFR, a primary indicator of chronic kidney disease.
Increased Levels of Uric Acid: PFAS exposure is consistently associated with hyperuricemia, a biomarker for renal distress.
Kidney Cancer: Longitudinal studies of highly exposed populations have detected an increased risk of kidney cancer and associated mortality.
Why?
The kidneys concentrate legacy PFAS through active reabsorption via organic anion transporters (such as Oatp1a1). This localized concentration leads to oxidative stress and epigenetic changes. Crucially, researchers must account for an "inverted U-shaped pattern" of excretion: failing kidneys may excrete PFAS more readily while retaining other wastes. This "reverse causation" means the link between PFAS and renal health is often underestimated in cross-sectional studies.
These systemic health risks are particularly concerning when they overlap with the vulnerabilities of reproductive and developmental stages.
PART OF THE BODY AFFECTED: Reproductive Organs and the Developing Fetus.
Health Effects: Synthesized findings point to significant reproductive and developmental deficits:
Impact on Fertility: Lower sperm count and motility in men and decreased fecundity (increased time-to-pregnancy) in women.
Pregnancy Complications: Increased risk of pregnancy-induced hypertension and preeclampsia.
Developmental Deficits: Lower birth weight and delayed mammary gland development. The mammary gland is an exceptionally sensitive endpoint, with developmental delays occurring at doses of 1 mg/kg and lower.
Why?
These outcomes are driven by the effective transplacental transfer of PFAS and their presence in breast milk. Once in the developing organism, these chemicals interfere with essential endocrine signals required for growth, lactation, and the regulation of gestational health.
TLDR: Because its ability to bond and mimic many biological molecules within the body and its general toxic nature, PFAS puts the body under constant stress, which affects every system in the body.
Basically, its aging you faster without you doing anything. i.e like smoking without the fun of nicotine.
Source:
Fenton, S. E., Ducatman, A., Boobis, A., DeWitt, J. C., Lau, C., Ng, C., Smith, J. S., & Roberts, S. M. (2020). Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substance Toxicity and Human Health Review: Current State of Knowledge and Strategies for Informing Future Research. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 40(3), 606-630. https://doi.org/10.1002/etc.4890
When talking about bioaccumulation and agricultural products, the main sources are: Contaminated Irrigation Water: Using water from wells, rivers, or treated wastewater that contains dissolved PFAS, as previously mentioned in this thread. Biosolids (Sewage Sludge): The use of treated municipal waste as fertilizer, which often contains high concentrations of PFOS and PFOA. Atmospheric Deposition: Pollution settling from the air, through rain or dust. Pesticides: Certain agricultural chemicals that may contain PFAS as part of their formula or break down into them over time.
While knowing how these chemicals get into the soil is the first step, the bigger challenge lies in understanding the complex soil conditions that determine whether these chemicals stay stuck in the ground or move into the plants we eat.
Factors Influencing PFAS Presence and Mobility
Not all PFAS behave the same way once they reach the field. Some stay stuck to the soil for a long time, while others move freely with water. The mobility of the PFAS depends on the soil conditions and how they interact with the structure of each molecule (Remember the long-chain, short-chain difference).
The following table contrasts the factors that determine whether these chemicals are likely to move through the soil and enter a plant.
Patterns of Accumulation within Plant Structures
Plants do not store PFAS uniformly. Depending on what part of the plant you’re eating, the higher/lower risk you’re exposing yourself to.
The distribution of PFAS generally follows these patterns:
High Accumulation Zones:
Roots: This is often where the highest concentrations are found, especially for long-chain PFAS. We see high risk in crops like carrots because we eat the root itself, where chemicals stay trapped.
Leafy Greens and Vegetative Parts: "Water-hungry" plants like lettuce are high-risk. These plants lose water through their leaves (transpiration), which pulls the chemicals up from the soil like a straw.
Low Accumulation Zones:
Grains and Seeds: Crops like corn or wheat are generally lower risk because the PFAS does not reach the seeds effectively.
Sweet Fruits: Fleshy fruits like strawberries or the interior of tomatoes usually accumulate fewer chemicals than the leaves or roots.
Translocation and the "Rhizosphere Reservoir"
The movement of chemicals from the roots to the shoots (leaves and fruit) is known as translocation. Short-chain PFAS move easily through this system. Long-chain PFAS, however, are often blocked by a natural filter in the root called the Casparian strip. This filter makes it difficult for larger chemicals to reach the edible leaves and fruit.
However, even if the chemicals aren't moving yet, the soil near the roots—the Rhizosphere acts as long-term storage. This area often holds precursors, which are larger chemicals that break down into PFAS as they gradually degrade. As previously mentioned, these could be PFAS contaminants already present, or they could be pesticides/herbicides/fungicides that break down into PFAS as they degrade.
Summary of Risks and Future Outlook
Research confirms that the behavior of PFAS in our food system is a balancing act between soil chemistry and plant biology. While legacy chemicals like PFOS and PFOA were the main focus in the past, they are often trapped in the soil or roots. However, there is a "human health irony" in how we have responded to this problem.
As industry moves away from older legacy chemicals, they are increasingly using replacement short-chain PFAS. While these were intended to be safer, they are actually more mobile. This means they are much more likely to bypass the soil and root barriers, ending up in the edible leaves, fruits, and grains we eat every day. This shift in the chemical industry may actually be increasing the amount of PFAS we end up consuming.
We can no longer assume that a chemical is gone just because it isn't in the water. We must account for the long-term reservoir of precursors in the soil and the high mobility of replacement chemicals. The need for aggressive and continued monitoring of the food supply is not just a scientific preference—it is an urgent necessity for public health.
TLDR, Longer Chain PFAS are somewhat filtered by plant roots, but as mentioned in the OP, the industry has been moving more toward short-chain PFAS as replacements. These short-chain PFAS are much more mobile and enter food a lot easier, meaning they enter our bodies more easily.
Source:
Costello, M.C.S., Lee, L.S. Sources, Fate, and Plant Uptake in Agricultural Systems of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances. Curr Pollution Rep 10, 799–819 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40726-020-00168-y
It wasnt kike greed that caused all this (though greed is their patron god). Just plain ol garden variety capitalist greed. 3M and DuPont knew for literal decades that these chems bioaccumulated, but they suppressed those studies from getting released as long as they could
Theres a great documentary on it calledThe Devil We Know:
There a Mark Ruffalo movie called Dark Waters too, but it sucks. FYI, anything 'Teflon' or non-stick should be avoided by the plague. Using fats and oils on stainless for cookware is the healthiest option.
