What can you do if you want to reduce your PFC exposure?
Because the mechanism of how PFCs actually enter a child’s bloodstream is unclear, Dr. Grandjean says he can’t give advice with certainty since But he recommends people should avoid microwave popcorn, lubricants for skis and snowboards, and furniture, carpet, shoes, and clothes that treated with stain repellents.
“I don’t feel comfortable with the compounds for myself and my family and would rather eliminate them,” he told Reuters.
‘Absolute junk’
His comments have unleashed a bit of a storm in scientific circles.
Writing in her ScienceBlogs.com syndicated blog ERV, Abbie Smith points out: correlation does not equal causation.
“What (Dr.) Grandjean has is a very interesting observation,” she says, “but the biochemical and physiological ins-and-outs of that observation are still unknown.”
An outcome is a result of many factors, Smith points out. “Maybe there is some genetic quirk that has a negative effect on processing PFCs that also disturbs immune function. Maybe exposure to PFCs interferes with vaccine adjuvents,” she says, noting that the aluminum gels and aluminum salts used as Immunologic adjuvants have the same size range as PFCs.
“Maybe there is something else about eating more fish that is negatively effecting vaccine responses and PFCs are just a proxy measure that have no direct effect on the phenotype,” she says, noting that equating correlation with causation could be dangerous.
“An innocent correlation without causation, while the real culprit goes unrecognized,” Smith, a graduate student studying the molecular and biochemical evolution of HIV within patients and within populations, says.
Even many experts were not swayed.
Dr. Anthony Dayan, an independent toxicologist who has worked as an industry advisor, tells Reuters, “The study proves nothing” because it didn’t account for other considerations — like how compounds in oily fish called polyunsaturated fatty acids may also suppress the immune system.
The American Council on Science and Health’s medical director was more blunt.
“Absolute junk,” Dr. Gilbert Ross, told WebMD. No studies have found increased rates of tetanus or diphtheria among people with higher PFC concentrations in their bodies, he points out.
“It appears to represent this group’s attempt to link PFCs to some adverse health effect.” The study has “no clinical significance whatsoever,” he says.
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