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'Nonstick' pollutants may cut efficiency of vaccines in kids
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/337869/title/Nonstick_pollutants_may_cut_efficiency_of_vaccines_in_kids[font face=Times, Serif][font size=5]'Nonstick' pollutants may cut efficiency of vaccines in kids[/font]
[font size=4]Effects in children with the highest exposures suggest immunizations may fail to protect some from disease[/font]
By Janet Raloff
Web edition : Tuesday, January 24th, 2012
[font size=3]Tiny concentrations of two common pollutants — chemicals known as PFOA and PFOS — in the blood may be linked to impaired immunity in children, a new study finds. In kids with the highest exposure to the chemicals, vaccinations can fail to trigger sufficient quantities of protective antibodies.
“We were shocked, to be frank, in the magnitude of the effect,” says study leader Philippe Grandjean, a physician at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston. He and his European colleagues describe their findings in the Jan. 25 Journal of the American Medical Association.
The long-lived pollutants — part of a class of chemicals called perfluorinated compounds, or PFCs — have been generated over the years by the production of chemicals that impart nonstick properties and water- and stain-repellency to fabrics, cookware and more, including older formulations of treatments marketed under such trade names as Teflon and Scotchgard. Pervasive environmental contaminants, PFCs taint air, water and food.
…
Among children in the top third of exposure to the chemicals PFOA, PFOS and a third related compound that goes by the nickname PFHxS, “inadequate response to the vaccinations was particularly common,” Grandjean observes. When subpar responses occur — antibody levels below 0.1 international units per milliliter — “we can’t rely on a vaccine as being effective,” he explains.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.2011.2034[font size=4]Effects in children with the highest exposures suggest immunizations may fail to protect some from disease[/font]
By Janet Raloff
Web edition : Tuesday, January 24th, 2012
[font size=3]Tiny concentrations of two common pollutants — chemicals known as PFOA and PFOS — in the blood may be linked to impaired immunity in children, a new study finds. In kids with the highest exposure to the chemicals, vaccinations can fail to trigger sufficient quantities of protective antibodies.
“We were shocked, to be frank, in the magnitude of the effect,” says study leader Philippe Grandjean, a physician at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston. He and his European colleagues describe their findings in the Jan. 25 Journal of the American Medical Association.
The long-lived pollutants — part of a class of chemicals called perfluorinated compounds, or PFCs — have been generated over the years by the production of chemicals that impart nonstick properties and water- and stain-repellency to fabrics, cookware and more, including older formulations of treatments marketed under such trade names as Teflon and Scotchgard. Pervasive environmental contaminants, PFCs taint air, water and food.
…
Among children in the top third of exposure to the chemicals PFOA, PFOS and a third related compound that goes by the nickname PFHxS, “inadequate response to the vaccinations was particularly common,” Grandjean observes. When subpar responses occur — antibody levels below 0.1 international units per milliliter — “we can’t rely on a vaccine as being effective,” he explains.
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