An Edge Hill University (EHU) study found that the detected levels of PFAS chemicals do not present a significant health risk, but it emphasizes the importance of strengthening monitoring efforts.
In partnership with BioGipuzkoa and the Department of Public Health, researchers at the University of the Basque Country (EHU) identified the presence of perfluoroalkylated and polyfluoroalkylated substances (PFAS) in the blood plasma of children living in the Urola and Goierri districts. While the results do not indicate an immediate threat to health, the team advises continued monitoring to track exposure and its possible effects. The study also observed that PFAS levels differ by age and emphasized the need to revise existing regulations.
PFAS are a group of extremely stable chemicals that persist in the environment for many years. Because they resist water, oil, and stains, these substances are common in items such as non-stick cookware, waterproof fabrics, food packaging, and firefighting foams. However, their extensive use has concerning consequences. PFAS can enter the body during pregnancy through the placenta and continue to accumulate later through breastfeeding, food, drinking water, polluted air, or contact with contaminated products.
Their potential health impacts have made PFAS a growing subject of scientific and public concern.
“They have been linked to endocrine disruption, increased cholesterol, and effects on the liver and development. They can build up both in the body and in the environment. So, exposure to PFAS can be regarded as chronic. What is more, they take years to degrade. This reinforces the need for biomonitoring studies such as ours,” explained Anne San Román, co-author of the study.
The research, conducted by the University of the Basque Country (EHU), centers on children because they are especially vulnerable to chemical exposure. Early-life contact with PFAS can cause harm at lower doses than in adults and may heighten the risk of developing diseases later in life.
Measuring PFAS in Children
The analysis, carried out on the plasma of 315 minors, detected 18 different compounds among the 42 studied, with detection rates ranging from 70% to 97% for the most common ones. “The data obtained show that we are highly exposed. It is difficult to know whether the levels of PFAS found in children’s bodies are high or low because this issue has not been studied sufficiently in order to specify safe limits for humans, but their presence is already a cause for concern and it is important that this type of research be expanded to better understand their effects and find ways of minimising them,” explained Professor Nestor Etxebarria.
Regarding the effects of PFAS on health, the study assessed the potential risks to the liver and development and concluded that, in general, there is no evidence of immediate danger.
“We have no evidence of worrying concentrations of PFAS in the population studied. However, this does not mean that the risk will decrease in 10 years’ time. What does not appear worrying now could be worrying in the future, because it is still unknown whether they could be responsible for future diseases,” pointed out Etxebarria and San Román.
They added that current methods for assessing risk have significant limitations, as they are based primarily on studies conducted on animals, which reduces their accuracy when extrapolated to humans. So they warned of the need to adjust risk assessment methods and conduct more people-centred studies to obtain more realistic data.
Differences in terms of age
The study is part of the INMA (Childhood and The Environment) project, launched in 2006 with the aim of analysing the impact of environmental pollutants on child development. The EHU research analyzed children’s exposure to PFAS over time by examining blood samples collected by the INMA project between 2011 and 2022 in the Gipuzkoa cohort. Specifically, the Goierri and Urola districts were areas characterized by a strong presence of the iron and steel industry.
“We analyzed the plasma of the children at three key stages of development: at the ages of 4, 8, and 14. This enabled us to assess the evolution and trends in PFAS levels as children grow up, and to confirm that PFAS concentrations decrease with age.” As Etxebarria and San Román went on to explain, “in early childhood, too, levels are mainly related to maternal exposure (through the placenta and breastfeeding), while in adolescence, environmental factors become more important”.
Furthermore, research shows that the presence of PFAS varies according to age. They observed that compounds regarded as classic, such as PFOA or PFOS, which began to be regulated in 2006, predominate in younger children. By contrast, adolescents have higher levels of emerging PFAS, probably because these compounds began to be used more widely when they were older, and replaced compounds that had already been regulated.
San Román and Etxebarria highlighted the fact that “the data most likely reflect the exposure typical of each period. That is why it is so important to repeat these studies periodically to capture the changes that are taking place and to be able to study the consequences they have on our bodies”.
Insufficient and outdated regulation
Based on the data obtained, the research team concluded that current regulations have not been entirely effective, since, despite the restrictions imposed on some PFAS, the restricted compounds are still present in children. Furthermore, they believe that the regulations need to be updated to include emerging compounds, the presence of which has been demonstrated. In this regard, they highlighted the need for further studies on the toxicity of the most recent PFAS, the danger of which has not yet been clearly established.
Reference: “Tracking early-life PFAS exposure in children at ages 4, 8, and 14 years: A longitudinal study from the INMA Spanish birth cohort” by Anne San Román, Eunate Abilleira, Belen González-Gaya, Juan Francisco Ayala-Cabrera, Ziortza Barroeta, Nestor Etxebarria and Amaia Irizar, 19 June 2025, Environmental Research.
DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2025.122198
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3 Comments
How can they say plastic found in the blood plasma is nothing to worry about yet??? This stupidity is beyond me
If government saying is nothing to worry about that means you should worry.
If government saying is nothing to worry about that means you should worry.