Mara Hoplamazian

And on this episode of Life Kit, we're going to talk about how to live in a world where these toxins are everywhere.

We'll go over how to find out if PFAS are in your drinking water, what kinds of water filters can tackle them, and what other changes you can make to limit your exposure.

All right, Mara, thanks for being here.

Thank you so much for having me.

Let's lay out the basics.

Do we know what these chemicals are actually doing inside of our bodies?

How they cause all this harm?

There's evidence that PFAS chemicals could be disrupting the signals our bodies send through hormones.

They could change the way our genes express themselves.

They could suppress our immune systems.

They can interfere with cellular biology and cause uncontrolled growth, which is cancer.

And the most well-studied of these chemicals are PFOA and PFOS.

They're sometimes called legacy PFAS chemicals.

They're sort of like the originals.

PFOA is classified as a group one carcinogen, meaning it is carcinogenic to humans.

That's along with like other group one carcinogens, which are, you know, tobacco, asbestos, arsenic, but also things like processed meat and alcohol.

And PFOS is classified as possibly carcinogenic.

Where have scientists found PFAS?

Estimates from the CDC show that pretty much all of us have PFAS in our blood.

And they're pretty much everywhere in the world scientists have looked.