Diabetes is a leading killer of Americans – the eighth leading cause of death in 2021. Type 2 diabetes is more common as people age and is strongly correlated with obesity and a lack of exercise. A recent study of “forever chemicals,” or PFAS, adds chemical exposures to the list of contributing causes. Americans are increasingly sick due to several contributing and often overlapping factors. Chemical exposures, including those to PFAS, can be reduced to improve longevity and overall health.
Diabetes Epidemic
Diabetes isn’t just a killer – it’s a disabler. It reduces mobility and the ability to be gainfully employed, and it increases vulnerability to other diseases. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) data show people with underlying health conditions, including diabetes, experienced higher rates of hospitalization and death during the COVID-19 pandemic, for example. The CDC suspects this connection explains why 2021 marked the peak of US diabetes deaths. The prevalence of the disease continues to rise, but the rate of death has begun to decline, even prior to the introduction of new drugs such as Ozempic and Mounjaro.
About 38.4 million Americans, 11.6% of the population, were estimated by the CDC to have diabetes in 2021. Nearly 30% of those over 65 suffer from this disease. Other significant contributors include education level, income, and residence. These factors intersect: Highly educated citizens are more likely to be aware of risks, afford healthier food options, and live in metropolitan areas. The highest rates of diabetes persist in the rural southeast. Body positivity movements may claim people should be proud of their obesity, but science suggests there is a strong connection between body weight and life-changing diabetes: The CDC reports that “For the time period 2015–2018, 89.9% of US adults 18 or older who had diagnosed diabetes were also considered to have overweight or obesity body mass index 25 kg/m2 or higher.”
A recent study now offers an additional contributing factor to the growing prevalence of type 2 diabetes: polyfluoroalkyl substances, aka PFAS. Researchers from Mount Sinai studied the connection between type 2 diabetes sufferers and these ubiquitous chemicals. They determined that people exposed to these “forever chemicals” (named for their propensity to accumulate in the body over time and take extremely long periods of time to break down) increase their type 2 risk by up to 31%. The toxins are found in non-stick cookware, food packaging, children’s toys, and often in tap water and have been linked to kidney, breast, and testicular cancer. They are known endocrine disruptors that interfere with the human hormonal system.
'Forever Chemicals'
PFAS appear to disrupt the body’s metabolism and trigger metabolic alterations such as insulin resistance and impaired glucose metabolism, which are key contributors to the development of type 2 diabetes in all populations. Especially if combined with unhealthy lifestyles and obesity, these changes disrupt the body’s ability to regulate blood sugar, inducing hyperglycemia – high blood sugar levels that lead to diabetes and the need to take insulin daily to stay alive. PFAS are also suspected to disrupt vital cells in the pancreas responsible for regulating blood glucose levels, increasing insulin resistance, and potentially increasing body fat.
Previous studies have linked phthalates, another group of chemical plasticizers widely used in food packaging, to diabetes. Thus, Americans who want to live a long and active life must add chemical culprits, including PFAS and phthalates, to the risks of obesity and inactivity as likely contributors to type 2 diabetes and other health risks. PFAS takes thousands of years to break down and are more prevalent in fast-food restaurants and highly processed food options.
The MAHA movement, led by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has called to reduce the presence of artificial dyes, sugars, hydrogenated fats, and pesticide residues (which often contain PFAS chemicals) from the US food supply. The MAHA Commission Report, produced at the request of President Trump, also recommended increasing exercise and consumption of healthy, whole foods, especially for the nation’s youth.
Enhanced government scrutiny and regulation of PFAS in drinking water and food supplies are likely to improve health outcomes for all Americans. More and more studies have revealed the threat of chemical exposures, including PFAS, to all Americans, but especially the very young. Until then, citizens must police their own lifestyles: avoid junk food, exercise regularly, lose weight if obese or overweight, and, by all means, refrain from consuming PFAS, phthalates, and other chemicals that accumulate harmfully in vulnerable human bodies for life.
