Scientists link ‘forever chemicals’ to poor sleep in young adults

By Sharon Udasin | The Hill | October 4, 2024

Read the full article by Sharon Udasin (The Hill)

“Exposure to certain types of ‘forever chemicals’ may be disrupting the sleep quality of young adults — contributing not only to tiredness, but also to potential knock-on health effects, new research has found.

Individuals who had heightened levels of four specific types of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in their blood experienced worse sleep, according to the results of a University of Southern California study published in Environmental Advances.

These forever chemicals may be interfering with the function of a gene that is critical to the production of the hormone cortisol, which helps regulate sleep and wakefulness rhythms, the authors noted.

‘Because the body needs sleep every day, if PFAS might be interfering with your sleep, that may affect you more immediately than other chronic health issues,’ said lead author Shiwen (Sherlock) Li, a postdoctoral researcher at USC’s Keck School of Medicine, in a statement.”…

This content provided by the PFAS Project.