Gut Check

Microbes in the human intestines may absorb dangerous PFAS

- Nora Bradford

LURKING IN OUR NONSTICK PANS, our rain jackets and even our drinking water are toxic compounds known as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also called “forever chemicals.” They can take hundreds of years to break down in the environment and are increasingly being detected in human blood and bodily tissues—where, research suggests, they can lead to several cancers and reproductive disorders, as well as thyroid disease and a weakened immune system. Scientists have been scrambling to find ways to remove PFAS from our surroundings before they reach human bodies. But one team may have found a way to tackle them afterward, too.

Bacteria commonly found in the human gut, such as Bacteroides uniformis and Odoribacter splanchnicus, could possibly be used to gather up PFAS and carry them out as waste, scientists suggest in a study published recently in Nature Microbiology.

“I think this research provides us a little glimmer of hope that it’s not all doom and gloom” when it comes to the PFAS problem, says study senior author Kiran Patil, a molecular biologist at the University of Cambridge. “Our bacteria—that have been our companions for thousands of years—may already be helping us do something about it.”