PFAS exposure linked to childhood gut inflammation, study finds

A new study by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York tracked pregnant women and their children up to age 11 and found that higher prenatal and early‑life exposure to PFAS chemicals was associated with signs of intestinal inflammation in the children. The inflammation could increase the long‑term risk of inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, and even colon cancer. Researcher Vishal Midya said the finding highlights how early exposure to these persistent chemicals may set the stage for later gut disorders.

Separately, engineers at the University of the Netherlands are investigating how PFAS readily attach to foam, a property that can be used to capture the chemicals from contaminated water. Engineer Joséphine van Ruiten explained that while foam‑based capture can concentrate PFAS, destroying the concentrated waste remains energy‑intensive, requiring temperatures above 1,000 °C. The team is exploring less energy‑intensive destruction methods, emphasizing that preventing PFAS release at the source would be more effective than downstream cleanup.