More from Prevention: The Scary Connection Between BPA And Heart Disease Researchers from West Virginia University (WVU) School of Public Health, Morgantown, looked at the health data of 1,200 Americans and compared their PFOA serum levels with the incidence of heart disease. The results: The greater the amounts of PFOA in the bloodstream, the greater the risk of cardiovascular disease—regardless of factors like age, race, smoking, BMI, diabetes, and even hypertension. While previous research has linked PFOA to cardiovascular disease in animals, this is the first to look at PFOA’s heart effect on humans. Scary? You bet. But more research needs to be done to determine the specific relationship between PFOA and cardiovascular disease. “We can’t yet be certain that PFOA causes heart disease,” says lead study author Anoop Shankar, MD, PhD, chair of the department of epidemiology in the WVU School of Public Health. “The two could be related in another way, like people with cardiovascular disease tending to retain more PFOA in their blood.” Still, PFOA’s track record isn’t exactly reassuring. Health watchdogs like the Environmental Working Group cite research that suggests PFOA may be a human carcinogen, and previous research has linked the chemical to chronic kidney disease and high cholesterol in children and adolescents. It’s also a significant source of global chemical emissions—so much so that the EPA partnered with major manufacturers like DuPont and 3M to form the 2010/2015 PFOA Stewardship Program, which plans to eliminate PFOAs from the manufacturers’ products by 2015. Until then, you can minimize your exposure to the chemical by steering clear of two of the biggest sources: nonstick cookware and packaged foods like microwave popcorn. According to the FDA, many popcorn bags contain especially high levels of PFOAs. (Popcorn addict? Not to worry, check out these easy ways to get your fix—sans the sketchy chemical—with Popcorn Power.)
