In a lab at Duke University, tiny worms smaller than an eyelash are helping scientists study the effects of a group of dangerous human-made chemicals that are found almost everywhere—in our food, water, homes, and even inside our bodies.
These chemicals, called PFAS (short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), have been used since the 1940s in things like non-stick pans, waterproof jackets, fast food wrappers, and even makeup. They are nicknamed “forever chemicals” because they do not break down in the environment. Once they are made, they stay around—possibly forever.
PFAS are incredibly tough. They are made with strong carbon-fluorine bonds, one of the hardest chemical links to break. This makes them useful in many products, but it also means they build up over time in the environment, animals, and people.
Nearly every person in the U.S. has some amount of PFAS in their blood. These chemicals have even been found in polar bears and the middle of the ocean.
Unfortunately, PFAS have been linked to serious health problems, including cancer, liver damage, and problems with birth weight. While a few of these chemicals have been studied, most of the 14,000+ types of PFAS have not. Scientists don’t fully understand what many of them do to our bodies.
That’s where the worms come in. Biologist Ryan Baugh and postdoctoral fellow Tess Leuthner are using tiny transparent worms, known as C. elegans, to test how harmful different types of PFAS are. These worms are a favorite tool in research because they are simple, develop quickly, and share many biological traits with humans, including similar genes and cell processes.
In a recent study published in Toxicological Sciences, the Duke team exposed worms to 13 different PFAS chemicals. Some were older types that have been around for decades, and others were newer replacements.
The scientists found that all of the chemicals stunted the worms’ growth, but some were much more toxic than others. One chemical, PFOSA, was 1,000 times more harmful than the least toxic one, PFBA.
Interestingly, not all worms reacted the same way. Some strains were more sensitive to certain PFAS chemicals than others. This suggests that genetic differences play a big role in how organisms respond to PFAS exposure.
This discovery is important because it could help us understand why some people might be more affected by PFAS than others. Since humans are genetically diverse, some may be more vulnerable to these chemicals based on their genes. By studying worms, researchers hope to find genetic clues that can be used to identify at-risk individuals in the human population.
Using worms for this kind of research has another big advantage: speed. Testing chemicals in mice or rabbits can take more than a year. With worms, the same tests can be done in just a few days. This faster testing method could help scientists study many more chemicals and figure out which ones pose the greatest risks to human health.
The Duke team is now working to identify the specific genes that make some worms more sensitive to PFAS than others. If those same genes exist in humans, it could help us find people or communities who are more likely to suffer from PFAS-related health problems.
This work is especially important because PFAS contamination is already a major problem in many places. In North Carolina, for example, a chemical plant polluted the Cape Fear River, affecting the drinking water for nearby towns. Military bases, including Fort Bragg, have also been hotspots of PFAS pollution, especially from firefighting foam.
Although some PFAS are no longer made in the U.S., they are still found in imported goods, and new versions of PFAS chemicals are constantly being introduced. That makes it even more urgent to figure out which ones are most dangerous.
By using tiny worms to quickly and efficiently test PFAS toxicity, researchers hope to close the knowledge gap, improve safety regulations, and protect public health. This simple organism may be the key to solving a very big problem.
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The research findings can be found in Toxicological Sciences.
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