According to an Australian study on a group of firefighters, donating blood helps to lower the levels of Pfas in the donor’s blood.
Donating blood can save lives, but this is known. Helping those in need of a blood transfusion following surgery or a traffic accident is a simple and painless gesture. Now for a group of Australian researchers he has discovered a curious benefit also for donors: in fact, regular donation would reduce the quantity of Pfas present in the blood. Pfas (perfluoro-alkyl substances) are present in many everyday objects such as soaps, paints, clothing, furniture.
The dangers of the Pfas
Carefully studied only in recent years, Pfas have proved dangerous for reproductive health, but also for their ability to increase the level of cholesterol in exposed people and increase risk of some cancers. These substances are considered endocrine disruptors capable of altering hormonal functions, with repercussions on health. Pfas contaminate the organism essentially via food through groundwater, used in agriculture, contaminated. Another alarming element is that these chemicals do not easily degrade in the environment quickly and can persist for a long time in the environment and in living organisms, multiplying the harmful effects for ecosystems and health.
The study on firefighters
The team of Australian researchers, who published the study on Jamaconducted blood tests on 285 firefighters on duty at the Fire Rescue Victoria they have donated blood or plasma multiple times within a year. The category of firefighters was chosen precisely because, due to their thermal resistance, Pfas are also used as components of fire retardant foams and in general, precisely because they are so exposed, firefighters have higher levels of Pfas in the blood than the general population. . Throughout the study, 95 firefighters donated blood every 12 weeks, another 95 firefighters donated plasma every 6 weeks, and in the control group 95 firefighters donated neither blood nor plasma. Pfas levels in the latter group remained unchanged. In particular, the researchers observed that, although both blood and plasma donation both contribute to the reduction of Pfas levels, plasma donations appear to be more effective, with a decrease in chemicals of up to 30%.
The reasons still to be investigated
the first time a way is found to reduce Pfas in the blood – and all due to an act of charity for the benefit of society, rather than any kind of drug treatment or complicated procedures that have to be performed in hospitals explain the study authorsincluding the hematologist Robin Gasiorowski of Macquarie University in Australia.
But why would the amount of Pfas in the blood be reduced by donating blood? We know that Pfas binds to serum proteins in the blood: therefore, a reduction in this component of the blood can help reduce Pfas levels. However, this is an initial study, which needs further investigation. However, already from these first results it can be seen that donating blood is an effective method to reduce Pfas concentrations in the blood, without the need for any type of drug treatment or medical intervention. Although this study did not examine the health effects of Pfas or the clinical benefits of its reduction in firefighters, he concludes Mark Taylor of Macquarie University, among the authors of the work – these important questions deserve further research to better understand the health outcomes of exposure and treatment
April 19, 2022 (change April 19, 2022 | 18:46)
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