PFAS may be eliminated from the body faster with certain medicines, study suggests

The study, published in the journal Environment International, is based on controlled studies carried out in Ronneby in Blekinge, where drinking water from a municipal water treatment plant previously contained very high levels of the environmental toxin PFAS.

The discovery was made in 2013, and the contamination was found to have originated from aqueous film-forming foam that had been used for decades during fire drills at the Air Force Wing F17 in Ronneby. The contaminated water was immediately replaced by clean water from another water treatment plant in the municipality.

A previous survey has shown that many residents had highly elevated levels of PFAS in their blood. It can take many years for PFAS to be eliminated from the body, but this varies widely between individuals. The reasons for this variation are not yet fully understood.

The study involved 10 subjects, aged 25 to 47, who were tested with different medicines to lower the levels of PFAS in their bodies. Participants were their own control subjects by taking a medication for a 12-week period, and were without medication for the same length of time.

The PFAS substances studied were more rapidly eliminated from the body by two of the medicines: the cholesterol-lowering drug cholestyramine, which confirms the findings of a Danish study last year; and the related medicine colesevelam, where the effect on elimination has not previously been demonstrated.

During the 12 weeks without medication, the level of the studied PFAS substances fell by a few percent, whereas the period with medication gave reductions of at most 40% for one of the PFAS substances.

Axel G. Andersson et al, Serum, urinary and fecal concentrations of perfluoroalkyl substances after interventions with cholestyramine/colesevelam and probenecid – cross-over trials in Ronneby, Sweden, Environment International (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2025.109794

Carcinogenic preservatives are used in many processed meats such as bacon and ham. These preservatives, known as nitrites, are added to keep meat looking fresh and pink, enhance flavor and prevent spoilage. But they are now implicated in tens of thousands of cancer cases every year in the UK.
The danger comes from the way nitrites behave once eaten. Inside the body, they can turn into compounds called nitrosamines, which are potent carcinogens that damage DNA, the genetic material that controls how cells grow and divide.

These nitrosamines can attach themselves to DNA in the liver, forming DNA adducts, which are small chemical bonds that stick to the genetic material and distort its structure. This damage can cause genetic errors that, over time, build up and allow cells to divide uncontrollably, forming tumors, particularly in the colon.

Nitrosamines can also trigger stress within cells by creating harmful molecules called reactive oxygen species, which cause additional DNA damage. This combination of oxidative stress and genetic instability can help cancer develop and spread.