this post was submitted on 13 Jul 2025
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Some gut microbes can absorb and help expel ‘forever chemicals’ from the body, research shows (www.theguardian.com)
submitted 4 days ago by babysandpiper@sopuli.xyz to c/health@lemmy.world
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Previously, the only way to reduce levels of Pfas was by bloodletting or a drug with unpleasant side effects

Certain kinds of gut microbes absorb toxic Pfas “forever chemicals” and help expel them from the body via feces, new first-of-its-kind University of Cambridge research shows.

The findings are welcome news as the only options that exist for reducing the level of dangerous Pfas compounds from the body are bloodletting and a cholesterol drug that induces unpleasant side effects.

The microbes were found to remove up to 75% of some Pfas from the gut of mice. Several of the study’s authors plan to develop probiotic dietary supplements that boost levels of helpful microbes in the human gut, which would likely reduce Pfas levels.

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[–] supernicepojo@lemmy.world 10 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

This could be a potential lifesaver for a problem we have barely begun to realize. From the research article:

The pollutants bioaccumulated by gut bacteria included perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), which belong to the chemical group of PFAS. Of the tested bacterial species, nine—Bacteroides caccae, Bacteroides clarus, Bacteroides dorei, Bacteroides stercoris, Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, Bacteroides uniformis, Odoribacter splanchnicus, Parabacteroides distasonis and Parabacteroides merdae—bioaccumulated PFNA and/or PFOA.

Nature Open Research

A simple probiotic would be so easy for everyone to access. Now we should get dupont to pay for it for everyone.