June 21, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Recent studies on dogs and horses have revealed heightened levels of PFAS “forever chemicals,” thereby designating horses as sentinel species.
Sentinel species serve as early indicators of potential harm to humans.
This research further expands our understanding of PFAS exposure’s impact on liver and kidney function in these creatures. PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, is a category of chemicals utilized in plastics and materials resistant to grease and water. These substances pose a health risk due to their non-biodegradable nature in the environment and their presence in soil and water sources.
“Horses haven’t been utilized previously to track PFAS exposure,” stated Kylie Rock, the study’s lead author and a postdoctoral researcher at North Carolina State University. “However, they might offer crucial data about exposure pathways from the outdoor environment when situated near identified sources of contamination.”
In this novel investigation, researchers identified heightened PFAS levels in the blood of 31 domestic dogs and 32 horses from Grays Creek, N.C., including dogs that exclusively consumed bottled water.
The study was carried out in response to local residents’ concerns about their pets’ health. These residents’ homes utilized wells which had been found by state inspectors to contain PFAS.
Each animal underwent a general veterinary health examination and blood tests to screen for 33 PFAS chemicals. The specific chemicals were selected based on those present in the Cape Fear River basin and the available standards to analyze them.
Overall, 20 distinct PFAS were discovered in the animals. Each animal had at least one, and more than half had at least 12 of the 20 identified PFAS.
PFOS, which was used in industrial and commercial products for years, was found in the highest concentrations in dogs.
The perfluorosulfonic acid PFHxS, a surfactant used in consumer goods and firefighting foams, was found in dogs but not in horses.
Certain ether-containing PFAS, including the toxic substance HFPO-DA (also known as GenX), were detected solely in animals that consumed well water.
In dogs who drank well water, researchers identified concentrations of two chemicals — PFOS and PFHxS — comparable to those in children from the Wilmington GenX exposure study. (In 2017, Wilmington, N.C., residents discovered GenX had been present in their water supply for decades.)
The recent study indicates that pet dogs could serve as significant indicators of PFAS exposure.
Dogs that drank bottled water had different types of PFAS in their blood. These dogs had 16 of the 20 PFAS identified in the study.
Horses displayed higher concentrations of Nafion byproduct 2 (NBP2), hinting at the possibility of them feeding on grass contaminated with PFAS.
Changes were also noted in diagnostic biomarkers used to evaluate liver and kidney dysfunction in the animals. In humans, these two organ systems are primarily targeted by PFAS toxicity.
“While the exposure levels we discovered were generally low, we did notice variations in concentration and composition between animals living indoors and outdoors,” commented co-author Scott Belcher, an associate professor of biology at NC State.
Belcher added in a university press release, “The fact that some concentrations in dogs are comparable to those in children underscores the importance of dogs as domestic sentinels for these pollutants. Moreover, the presence of PFAS in animals that don’t consume well water suggests other sources of contamination within homes, such as household dust or food.”
The study results were published on June 21 in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.
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