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Dr. Moose@lemmy.world to science@lemmy.worldEnglish · 2 months ago

Tiny gut “sponge” bacteria found to flush out toxic PFAS “forever chemicals”

www.sciencedaily.com

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Tiny gut “sponge” bacteria found to flush out toxic PFAS “forever chemicals”

www.sciencedaily.com

Dr. Moose@lemmy.world to science@lemmy.worldEnglish · 2 months ago
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Cambridge scientists have spotted gut bacteria that greedily soak up PFAS “forever chemicals,” then ferry them safely out of the body in animal tests, removing up to three-quarters of the toxins within minutes. Their findings hint at probiotic pills that could shield people from PFAS-linked cancers, fertility issues, and heart disease while lawmakers scramble to rein in 4,700 widespread compounds.
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  • xep@fedia.io
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    2 months ago

    Doesn’t really seem like they’ll get rid of what’s already in the bloodstream and no real mention of safety yet, but it looks promising.

    • Kyle@lemmy.ca
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      2 months ago

      I wonder if there are other ways pfas might be circulated out of the bloodstream and back into the digestive system to be collected by this microfauna.

      One of the ways oats and oatmeal reduce the amount of cholesterol in your body is by binding to the cholesterol in bile so it’s excreted instead of being re-absorbed. So the cholesterol could already be in the bloodstream, converted into bile, then excretes with the oats once it’s combined. This clearly has multiple essential organs helping the process, but still, a mechanism like this could still make a difference over time.

      • canihasaccount@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        There’s some evidence for the same mechanism of action reducing PFAS:

        https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0041008X24003879

        https://ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12940-025-01165-8

        • Kyle@lemmy.ca
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          2 months ago

          Welp, I’m having oats for breakfast tomorrow 😄

          • anomnom@sh.itjust.works
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            2 months ago

            Just gotta make sure they aren’t already full of microplastics.

        • Deebster@infosec.pub
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          2 months ago

          Even better, those studies are testing dietary fibre generally, not just oats, so anyone eating their daily fruits and vegetables is already getting that benefit.

    • Hardeehar@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Time to start donating blood regularly. Someone else will get plastics sure, but they’ll need the blood for more pressing reasons.

      • HubertManne@piefed.social
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        2 months ago

        I wish I was not a needlephobe as there is some indication it can be good for you the same way things that encourage your old cells to die (senolytics) are good.

        • Hardeehar@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          Fasting is a good way to achieve that.

          But as far as donating goes, there may be a day you might be the recipient of much needed blood donations.

          Had a lady need 12 bags of blood after almost exsanguinating following a really complicated delivery (both survived). She never gave blood before due to fear of needles, but now is a regular blood donor because of the importance of it. She told me to not wait and just start giving.

          • HubertManne@piefed.social
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            2 months ago

            I have a hard time believing she was a needlephobe and not more of a person who was not wild about needles as phobias do not disapear so easily.

            • Minnels@lemmy.zip
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              2 months ago

              Pregnancy changes people.

              • Hardeehar@lemmy.world
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                2 months ago

                I 100% agree with this

            • Hardeehar@lemmy.world
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              2 months ago

              That’s arguable. But she did her first blood donation and it took her around 3 hours.

              • HubertManne@piefed.social
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                2 months ago

                okay. that sounds like phobia. thats how long it took to get my meningitis shot in college. walked around the quad yelling at myself in my head.

      • fucktrump@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        The microplastics get filtered really well in donations, so you’re definitely not doing any harm!

  • Evil_Shrubbery@lemmy.zip
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    As long as it doesn’t hurt the PFAS industry profit margins.

    /s

    • filcuk@lemmy.zip
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      It will quadruple revenue - deregulation and PFAS for everyone!
      Hope you can afford regular sponge bacteria cleansing baths, or you get them super-cancers real quick.

      • Noodle07@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        I hate that we’re living in the stellaris timeline

        • H4CK3RN4M3D4N63R570RM@lemmy.ca
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          It would suck to live in any of the empires I’ve created.

          • Noodle07@lemmy.world
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            2 months ago

            We dont deserve mandatory pampering

      • Evil_Shrubbery@lemmy.zip
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        2 months ago

        It’s the way the world was meant to be monetised!

    • thelivefive@startrek.website
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      The fact that this /s was even slightly needed :(

      • Evil_Shrubbery@lemmy.zip
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        2 months ago

        Omg, ikr?

        People automatically start bitching about anything ever so slightly restricting harmful corporation’s actions even when they aren’t even involved with the profits (which also shouldn’t matter, but it’s funny that it’s not even their greed, just brainwashed by propaganda they happily repeat & would die for).

  • Bloomcole@crazypeople.online
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    2 months ago

    fast track that stuff.
    The world is already full of PFAS, us included.

    • Agent641@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Whoops, long term studies show it turns the host into a zombie after 4 years.

      • GreenKnight23@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        1000001758

      • burgerpocalyse@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        its just as well, i dont think I got more than two Halloweens in me

  • MalReynolds@slrpnk.net
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    2 months ago

    Awesome, nature finds a way. Wonder how common this removal is with other things, also, engineering one for nanoplastic removal would be a huge win!

    • BudgetBandit@sh.itjust.works
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      There has been found a fungus that evolved to consume microplastics already! https://lamycosphere.com/en-int/blogs/the-futur-is-fungi/plastikfressende-pilze-sind-eine-naturliche-losung-fur-die-umweltverschmutzungskrise?srsltid=AfmBOopXsq1C4V3QswKk2bVz1-Y9NNbbDa5VhLclmQyVl-LkNqrijkvl

      And a black one that consumes radiation! They’re working on a way to use that as a self healing radiation shielding in space! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiotrophic_fungus

      • buddascrayon@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Just keep in mind how close our flesh is to plastic, chemically speaking. Anything that is really good at breaking down hydrocarbons may find us pretty tasty too.

        • Bloomcole@crazypeople.online
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          “keep in mind how close our flesh is to plastic”
          Well that was never in my mind.
          Monkeys, pigs in some way but I need some source or explanation on this

          • Rivalarrival@lemmy.today
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            2 months ago

            We are comprised of tangled chains of hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, with a sprinkle of various others. Plastic is slightly more complex chains, developed from the dead and entombed carcasses of ancient flora and fauna. That entombment process adjusts, but doesn’t fundamentally alter the chemistry of those chains.

            • Bloomcole@crazypeople.online
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              2 months ago

              thx 👍

      • Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Estimations indicate that approximately a 21 cm thick layer could significantly deflect the annual amount of radiation received on Mars’ surface.

  • SGGeorwell@lemmy.world
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    • 😈MedicPig🐷BabySaver😈@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      I’ll take the whole case.

  • Inucune@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    I’m waiting for people to start using leeches again to treat pfas in the blood.

    • SheeEttin@lemmy.zip
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      That’s actually a valid treatment! Although really they’d probably just take a pint here and there. When you do, the body produces new, pure blood.

      • MalReynolds@slrpnk.net
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        Yup, most efficient is to donate plasma, can reduce levels by a third in 6 months.

        • ChexMax@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          Hmm I wonder if women have less pfas in the blood because of periods?

          • MalReynolds@slrpnk.net
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            2 months ago

            Likely so.

        • Match!!@pawb.social
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          2 months ago

          cries in gay and microplastic

    • Rivalarrival@lemmy.today
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      Regular plasma donation is the most effective treatment. Blood donation works, too, but you can only donate blood every two months, versus plasma donations up to twice a week.

      • y0kai@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        2 months ago

        Too bad I pass out every time :(

    • BudgetBandit@sh.itjust.works
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      Bloodletting all the way.

      But donate it.

  • sandwich.make(bathing_in_bismuth)@sh.itjust.works
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    The pefapocalyps is coming. Why does fluor have to be such a clingy sensitive bitch clinging to cheats-with-anyone carbon? Now carbon is in a toxic relationship :(

  • Avicenna@lemmy.world
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    Oh fuck I mean I would love this to be real but this is going to be abused so much in the next couple years. Supermarket shelves and social media posts will fucking be filled with drinks and pills containing (probably nonviable forms) these bacteria by the loads. Good luck everyone.

    Also most of us already have enough microplastic embedded in our brains to last a lifetime.

    • matlag@sh.itjust.works
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      And a few years later the bacteria is found to cause even worse diseases…

      • kadu@lemmy.world
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        I know it’s a joke, but that’s almost certainly not going to be the case. Pathogenic bacteria have fundamentally different metabolism and genes.

        What is more likely is either: ecological imbalance or the bacteria only metabolises the harmful chemicals under extreme deprivation of other carbon sources, which is never realistic, so they never do

        • Avicenna@lemmy.world
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          Well I mean if people throw off their gut microbiome by overloading on this bacteria, it might still be harmful in that way. It does not need to be pathogenic in that sense.

          • kadu@lemmy.world
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            Its actually hard to survive the human gut

      • SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.world
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        But it is neutralized by microplastics…

      • Avicenna@lemmy.world
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        But before that they will discover some nutrients which are very beneficial for this bacteria so people will also consume that by the loads.

  • Catoblepas@piefed.blahaj.zone
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    That’s fucking great! I hope they are safe to use in people and make it to market soon.

    • jaybone@lemmy.zip
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      Then 20 years from now, we’ll all have micro sponges in our ovaries and testicles.

  • InternetRando@lemmy.myserv.oneBanned
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    That looks like a mitochondria, which is the powerhouse of the cell.

  • Rhaxapopouetl@ttrpg.network
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    Imagine talking about a bacteria that could save lives and never naming it! For those who want to know, it’s in the nature article: E.coli and pseudomonas are the ones cited in the source document, widely spread bacteria already in your gut. Sooooo…

    • DacoTaco@lemmy.world
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      Soooo… Regular gut biome already does this? Or are they talking about the e.coli that gives you the shits and food poisoning? Cause if its the latter, yes it will clean you quickly… Together will all liquids in your digestive system

    • Erik L. Midtsveen 🏴🌈@lemmy.wtf
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      You saved me a click!

    • ssillyssadass@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      If they’re already in my gut, does that mean I have less forever chemicals in me than otherwise?

  • lol_idk@piefed.social
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    So you poop them out into the water and perpetuate the cycle

    • Dr. Moose@lemmy.worldOP
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      You shouldn’t drink poop water my friend

      • SirActionSack@aussie.zone
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        Good enough for astronauts, good enough for , lol_idk

      • lol_idk@piefed.social
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        All water is poop water

  • Etterra@discuss.online
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    Everything lasts forever until it doesn’t.

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