Ep 11 - "We found that PFASs measured in blood are associated with weight gain." Assistant Professor Andres Cardenas University of California Berkeley

Today’s episode is a conversation with Assistant Professor Andres Cardenas from the University of California, Berkeley.

Dr Cardenas has been the lead author of two PFAS studies but the focus of today’s conversation is his research published in 2018.

The objective of the study was to determine the extent to which PFASs are associated with increases in weight and body size and evaluate whether a lifestyle intervention modifies this association.

“We found that PFASs measured in blood are associated with weight gain. However we see that exercise and diet, so this is a lifestyle intervention of exercise and diet was able to attenuate this weight gain, that is associated with this PFAS exposure.”

The importance of Dr Cardenas’s research is because PFASs are chemicals that are suspected endocrine disruptors.

Show Notes: Episode 11

1. Research Paper Cardenas et al Published 2/10/2017 in Environmental Health Perspectives: https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP1612“Plasma Concentrations of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances at Baseline and Associations with Glycemic Indicators and Diabetes Incidence among High-Risk Adults in the Diabetes Prevention Program Trial.”

2. Research Paper Cardenas et al Published August 31, 2018 in JAMA Network Open: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.1493“Association of Perfluoroalkyl Substances with Adiposity.”

3. Research Paper (Dr Cardenas referred to in the show by colleagues who

found similar PFAS & weight gain associations) https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1002502