Children exposed to PFAS chemicals before birth face increased blood pressure risks during adolescence, with boys particularly vulnerable, a new US study finds.
United States: Children prenatally exposed to PFAS forever chemicals are at higher risk of high blood pressure in childhood, especially adolescence, according to a new study.
Young males were also 17 percent more likely to be at risk of high blood pressure in case their mothers had high concentrations of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in blood tests collected during the postnatal period, according to a study published June 12 in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
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According to the lead researcher, Zeyu Li, a graduate student researcher at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, “Prenatal PFAS exposure is associated with higher blood pressure later in childhood, especially during adolescence,” US News reported.
“This suggests these forever chemicals can have long-lasting and potentially harmful effects that may only become apparent years after birth,” Li noted.
Teenagers who had been exposed to higher levels of PFAS before they were born were more likely to have high blood pressure, a new study found. https://t.co/piNjiCs6Mt
— euronews (@euronews) June 13, 2025
The so-called forever chemicals, PFAS, contain carbon and fluorine molecules, which form one of the strongest chemical bonds.
This enables the PFAS removal and breakdown to be extraordinarily hard. The Environmental Working Group says PFAS is in 99 percent of Americans, entering the body through the food people eat, the water they drink, the air they breathe, or what they touch.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), there are thousands of PFAS chemicals.
They are present in both drinking water and a large variety of consumer products such as paper fast food wrappers, Teflon cookware, stain-resistant furniture and clothing, and cosmetics and personal care products.
Without treatment, high blood pressure can predispose children to a lifetime of chronic illnesses, heart disease, kidney disease, and vision problems, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
In this research, the investigators trailed approximately 1,100 children who were members of the Boston Birth Cohort, which is a long-term health study that has been enrolling members since 1998.
New mothers participating in the study gave blood samples between one to three days after giving birth, US News reported.
The levels of PFAS in these blood samples were compared by researchers to over 13,000 blood pressure measurements obtained by the children after they grew older.