A shocking article published in August’s Environmental Science & Technology by the American Chemical Society showed that Asian Americans have disproportionately high exposure to polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The primary author, Dr. Shelly Liu who is an associate professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, additionally noted that when compared to whites, Asian Americans had a median PFAS level that was 88% higher.
To fully understand the consequences of these findings, it is important to note the significant risk that PFAS exposure has on public health and the environment. PFAS are synthetically created chemicals containing long chains of carbon with the addition of fluorine atoms. These chemicals are noted to be extremely long lasting in the environment and within human bodies, so much so that they were dubbed “forever chemicals’ ‘ by organizations such as the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency. Many of these chemicals have half-lives that span years within soil and water, increasing the chance of exposure to humans. While the primary sources of PFAS are from manufacturing facilities, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, these chemicals can also be found in everyday sources, such as nonstick cookware, make-up, and cleaning products. Just this year, the European Union proposed a prohibition on the sale of commercial products that include PFAS, aiming to eliminate these chemicals from commercial sale by 2030.
Most notably, historically high usage of PFAS in manufacturing and common household products has led to significant environmental pollution. While particularly long lasting PFAS variants – including perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) – have been largely phased out of commercially used products, use of these products in the past have resulted in their continued presence in the environment, leading to issues with water and air quality. Currently, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has 6 federally enforceable standards on environmental PFAS levels, but considering how widespread the contamination is, many wonder if these standards are doing enough to prevent dangerous levels of exposure.
PFAS is not only long lasting, but creates the potential for serious health risks. According to the EPA, currently established health risks of PFAS exposure include prostate, kidney, and testicular cancers as well as decreased fertility, developmental effects in children, and increased cholesterol levels. Additionally, studies have shown that PFAS exposure can negatively affect the immune system, resulting in reduced effectiveness of vaccines. As the potential health risks of high PFAS levels can be potentially life threatening, it is important to be aware of how people are typically exposed to PFAS. Exposure to PFAS occurs primarily through exposure to contaminated water and soil. Diets that contain high levels of fish also lead to a higher risk of PFAS exposure, as well as diets with high levels of packaged foods.
While the health impacts and routes of exposure to PFAS have been widely known within the scientific community for a significant period of time, the recent paper by Dr. Liu, titled “Toward Advancing Precision Environmental Health: Developing a Customized Exposure Burden Score to PFAS Mixtures to Enable Equitable Comparisons Across Population Subgroups, Using Mixture Item Response Theory”, was one of the first to shine a spotlight on particular risks associated with Asian Americans.
The lack of previous investigation on the matter is indicative of a history of exclusion of Asian Americans within public health studies. A 2021 study by Stephanie Yom and Dr. Maichou Lor titled “Advancing Health Disparities Research: The Need to Include Asian American Subgroup Populations” revealed that even when Asian Americans are included in public health studies, Asian Americans are commonly treated as a singular group, despite significant disparities that exist culturally and socioeconomically within the singular label “Asian American”. The paper notes that a potential cause of these omissions could be the “Model Minority Myth” or the idea that Asian Americans are not considered a disadvantaged group, leading to a lack of focused research groups focusing on Asian Americans as well as a false sense of homogeneity within Asian populations. In an effort to expand public health support for Asian American communities, President Obama signed Executive Order 13515 in 2009, which works primarily to promote equality for AAPI communities. Despite this order, there has been a lack of continued governmental action on the subject.
It is clear, based on recent and previous studies that continued work needs to be done to protect the public from the risks of PFAS. On March 14, 2023, the Biden-Harris administration released a briefing on plans to protect communities from PFAS contamination. The plan includes a $9 billion investment in environmental testing, monitoring, and cleanup of contaminated areas. Additionally, the Biden-Harris administration announced $370 million of funding for FEMA’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program (AFG) to support cancer screenings, as exposure to PFAS in fire extinguishing materials have been shown to increase cancer risk. Despite this investment, the plan does not mention other at-risk communities that funding will be directed towards, which is concerning as current research shows that specific demographic groups, such as Asian American communities, are at a significantly higher risk of incurring negative health repercussions as a result of PFAS pollution.
Additionally, Dr. Shelly Liu noted in a recent interview with NBC that the reasons for heightened PFAS levels in Asian American communities are currently largely unknown. Given the public health threat that PFAS levels have on the lives of Asian Americans, continued research is important so that Asian American communities can be informed about the risks associated with specific sources of exposure to make educated decisions and take proper protective precautions. Research involving Asian American communities must also refrain from treating Asian Americans as a homogenous group and focus on risk factors based on ethnic, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds. In general, the outcomes of recent PFAS research has also made it clear that exclusion of minority groups, such as Asian Americans, from public health research is a continuous issue in today’s society, and future work needs to be done to ensure that no demographic is left behind.
