Recent study findings suggest pregnant women’s exposure to forever chemicals may cause gestational diabetes mellitus, or high blood sugar during pregnancy. 

The man-made group of 14,000 chemicals are dubbed “forever,” because they are widespread — commonly found in consumer goods such as cleaning products — and long-lasting, taking hundreds of years to break down. Forever chemicals are also known as PFAS, an acronym for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances.

Study co-authors Sandra India-aldana and Xin Yu said most of the current data “reflects early-pregnancy exposure to PFAS.” Both co-authors are postdoctoral fellows in Environmental Medicine and Public Health at Mount Sinai’s Icahn School of Medicine.

Although gestational diabetes often clears after a baby’s birth, it increases a person’s risk for Type 2 diabetes and can put the fetus at risk for short- and long-term issues such as breathing problems, low birth weight, jaundice, and type-2 diabetes or obesity later in life, according to the Mayo Clinic.  

Other research shows exposure to PFAS is linked to immune system damage and reduced vaccine effectiveness in adults and children.

“Our review found that vaccine responsiveness decreased if children had higher levels of  legacy PFAS. The antibody response was much lower, which means they were much less protected from disease,” said Tasha Stoiber, senior scientist at Environmental Working Group .

The Environmental Working Group commissioned tests in 2005 and 2009 that revealed PFAS in developing fetuses.

People can ingest PFAS through drinking water, and approximately 99 percent of people in the United States have concentrations of PFAS in their bodies. An EWG report estimates about 110 million individuals in America have PFAS-contaminated drinking water. And researchers at USC’s Keck School of Medicine found an association between an increase in certain cancers in communities with PFAS-contaminated drinking water supplies.

And communities with high Black, Hispanic, and Latino populations are more prone to harmful levels of PFAS in their drinking water supplies, according to Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health researchers.

Several health issues have been linked to PFAS, and the Environmental Protection Agency is responsible for the “protection of human health and the environment.” But the Trump administration’s EPA has reversed or weakened its own drinking water regulations (put forward under the Biden-Harris administration), allowing more PFAS in drinking water.

Experts say those rollbacks come with substantial costs.

A study on the effect of PFAS-contaminated water in infants compared the cost of societal harms in drinking contaminated water to cleanup costs, and determined the “estimated $3.8 billion to remove PFAS from drinking water is less costly than the near $8 billion in health care costs and productivity” associated with infant mortality, low birth weight, and premature birth.

“Protecting public health is worth the cost of [water] treatment because then you prevent disease, infant deaths, and other types of diseases that are much more costly to society than drinking water treatment,” Stoiber said.

Tips to Reduce Your Exposure to Forever Chemicals

1.       Use the Tap Water Database to find what PFAS levels are in your zip code

2.       Learn how filters can reduce PFAS in your drinking water

3.       Limit exposure to fast food and food packaging, nonstick cookware, and water- or stain-resistant fabrics, clothing

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