Aug 12, 2026 04:20 PM
https://www.sciencealert.com/a-common-ch...from-blood
EXCERPTS: A filter used to clear excess fats from the blood of people with cardiovascular disease may also trap much smaller stowaways: some persistent synthetic chemicals and microplastics. The treatment, known as therapeutic apheresis, passes a patient's blood through a machine, filters out targeted substances, and returns the blood to the body.
It was not developed to remove environmental pollutants. It is generally used in severe cases where medication alone cannot sufficiently remove cholesterol – fat-carrying particles linked to cardiovascular disease risk. But when researchers in Germany compared blood samples collected immediately before and after the procedure, levels of some synthetic chemicals fell.
Early findings suggest that certain microplastics may also be retained by the filters. The chemicals examined in the Brain Health study are per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS – used in many products such as non-stick surfaces, waterproof textiles, and some food packaging.
Because some PFAS persist in the environment and human body for years, they are often called "forever chemicals". People can be exposed to PFAS in many ways, including through contaminated water and food, consumer products, packaging, and even household dust.
[...] "Our current hypothesis is that these environmental pollutants are retained directly within the apheresis filters or that they form aggregates or complexes with lipoproteins and plasma proteins, allowing them to be co-removed during the procedure," Steenblock says. (MORE - missing details)
EXCERPTS: A filter used to clear excess fats from the blood of people with cardiovascular disease may also trap much smaller stowaways: some persistent synthetic chemicals and microplastics. The treatment, known as therapeutic apheresis, passes a patient's blood through a machine, filters out targeted substances, and returns the blood to the body.
It was not developed to remove environmental pollutants. It is generally used in severe cases where medication alone cannot sufficiently remove cholesterol – fat-carrying particles linked to cardiovascular disease risk. But when researchers in Germany compared blood samples collected immediately before and after the procedure, levels of some synthetic chemicals fell.
Early findings suggest that certain microplastics may also be retained by the filters. The chemicals examined in the Brain Health study are per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS – used in many products such as non-stick surfaces, waterproof textiles, and some food packaging.
Because some PFAS persist in the environment and human body for years, they are often called "forever chemicals". People can be exposed to PFAS in many ways, including through contaminated water and food, consumer products, packaging, and even household dust.
[...] "Our current hypothesis is that these environmental pollutants are retained directly within the apheresis filters or that they form aggregates or complexes with lipoproteins and plasma proteins, allowing them to be co-removed during the procedure," Steenblock says. (MORE - missing details)