It should not be surprising that the environment is filled with things that can potentially damage your health system. With the amount of products that we use nowadays that involve the use of plastics or other chemicals, it seems obvious that there would be an increase in pollutants in the environment. These pollutants are given off during the manufacturing process, shipping process, as they get used and begin to break down, or during all the phases. There is one environmental pollutant in particular that may be causing an increase in kidney infection in the Henderson area and other parts of the country.
The Pollutant
The specific environmental pollutant that we are discussing in this article is a group of non-biodegradable compounds known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Recently, these compounds were detected in soil, air, and water from areas all over the world. They were even found to be present throughout entire ecological food chains. It is because of this that PFAS were classified as a global pollutant.
In more than 70 scientific studies, the effects of PFAS on people’s health systems was analyzed to try and figure out exactly how these compounds affect our bodies. What was discovered is that there is a link between frequent exposure to PFAS and the development of kidney diseases. The specific results showed that these compounds can lead to worse kidney function and dysregulated pathways such as the oxidative stress pathways, peroxisome proliferators-activated receptor pathways, and NF-E2-related factor pathways.
The Guilty Parties
Now that you have been informed about what the pollutant is, you likely want to know where it can be found. PFAS is most often used in the creation of grease and stain repellent products such as food storage products, papers, and textiles. These items can be found sitting on store shelves and in people’s homes all over the country and the rest of the world.
It might seem like the pollutant would affect everyone equally since most people end up using these products, but that is not what the reports seem to be showing. They have found that PFAS are particularly harmful to children. While they remain unsure about exactly why this disparity exists, they have seen that adolescents are particularly vulnerable to the pollutant.
There also seems to be a link to higher rates of harmful effects being brought onto racial minorities as well. The cause for this is once again not completely known yet in the scientific community, but reports have shown that a large portion of people around the world that are affected by CKD are racial minorities.