Chemicals found in pans and pots have been linked to liver cancer

Although some countries have banned their use, these chemicals are found almost everywhere you look.

Now the first study of its kind has found a connection between them and liver cancer

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11/08/2022

Thursday, August 11, 2022, 07:19 Updated: 09:19

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There is growing evidence that regular exposure to a group of chemicals used in a variety of household products, such as pots and pans, is linked to an increase in cancer rates.

A new study examining the correlation between liver cancer and the presence of these chemicals in humans found that people with the highest levels of exposure were hundreds of percent more likely to eventually develop the disease.

The group of substances called PFAS, which includes over 4,700 types, causes damage to the soil and groundwater, as the substances break down very slowly and accumulate over time, and this also happens in the body.

PFAS, which are used in a wide variety of consumer and industrial products, were first discovered in the blood of people who were exposed to these chemicals in the workplace in the 1970s.

In the 1990s they were found in the blood of the general population, leading to a growing awareness of the potential health risks.

Some manufacturers have phased out the use of perfluoro-n-octanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluoro-1-octane sulfonic acid (PFOS), but because they are persistent over time, PFAS are found in drinking water, many food products, and the blood of more than 98 percent of US adults.

The current study, published in JHEP Reports, is the first to show a clear link between any PFAS and liver carcinoma in humans as well.

The team at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California was able to use human samples collected as part of a large epidemiological study, a collaboration between the school of medicine and the University of Hawaii, called the Multiethnic Cohort Study.

This project followed more than 200,000 residents of Los Angeles and Hawaii for the development of cancer and other diseases.

A material found in almost every kitchen.

Pasta pot (Photo: ShutterStock)

This pool of human blood and tissue samples allowed the research team to find 50 participants who eventually developed liver cancer, evaluate the blood samples taken before their cancer diagnosis, and compare 50 people who did not develop cancer from the same study.

"Part of the reason there have been few human studies is because you need the right samples," said Veronica Wendy Stevan, PhD, professor of population sciences and public health at the Keck School of Medicine.

"When you look at environmental exposure, you need samples long before diagnosis because it takes time for the cancer to develop."

Researchers found several types of PFAS in the blood samples taken before the participant developed liver cancer.

The study found that the strongest link was between PFOS and liver cancer and that subjects in the top 10 percent of PFOS exposure were 4.5 times more likely to develop liver cancer than those with the lowest levels of PFOS in their blood.

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High chance of developing liver cancer.

Abdominal CT (Photo: ShutterStock)

The research team was also able to illuminate the possible ways in which PFOS altered the normal function of the liver.

Their evaluation of the samples found evidence that PFOS appears to alter the normal process of glucose metabolism, bile acid metabolism and the metabolism of a type of amino acid called branched-chain amino acids in the liver.

Disruption of normal metabolic processes in the liver can cause more fat to accumulate in the liver, a condition known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

There has been a dramatic and inexplicable increase in this disease worldwide in recent years, which is worrying because people with it have a much higher risk of developing liver cancer.

According to estimates, fatty liver disease is expected to affect 30 percent of all adults in the US by 2030.

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