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The focus for World Health Day 2026 is “Together for health, Stand with science.” This theme underscores a “One Health” approach aimed at safeguarding the welfare of humans, animals, plants, and the planet. This viewpoint stresses the growing environmental issues that pose serious risks to global, ecological, and public health systems.<\/p>\n
A significant issue is a particular category of chemicals that are troubling due to their capacity to build up in living beings and amplify through the food web.[1] As we are aware, plastics and microplastics are creating substantial problems, and justifiably so. Certain plastics require centuries to decompose. But there are some chemicals that never degrade. They keep accumulating in human and animal bodies, as well as in the plant kingdom. They just pile up, whether in landfills, the environment, or even our own bodies, FOREVER<\/strong>!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n With approximately 10,000 chemicals classified under the PFAS umbrella, they are prevalent in contemporary products. PFAS have been in use since 1938 and play a vital role in various industries. They are harmful even at extremely low concentrations, detectable in parts per trillion, and pose serious health hazards. Alarmingly, PFAS were detected in the breast milk, umbilical cord blood, or bloodstream of 99 percent of individuals surveyed in a study by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention\u2019s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. [2]<\/p>\n While several countries have regulations governing these chemicals, they are still in use in various locations, despite causing environmental pollution.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, PFAS contamination is not being addressed effectively in India due to critical challenges such as regulatory gaps, inadequate monitoring, and technological barriers.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This fungus is breaking down the chemicals polypropylene and polyethylene in regular soil conditions, no high temperature or sorting needed. In controlled designed systems, the fungus breaks down the carbon-fluorine bonds in PFAS, converting them into less toxic products. During testing, it degraded these chemicals by over 90% in 5 months, leaving behind biodegradable, non-toxic stuff. It basically uses enzymes to break it down into simpler molecules, which it then absorbs as food. Researchers think it could be a game-changer for landfills and pollution, and are exploring ways to scale it up.[4]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n PFAS are all around us. More exposure over time increases the risk of serious health problems as they accumulate in our bodies. Can’t avoid them completely, but the less we use, the better it is!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The focus for World Health Day 2026 is “Together for health, Stand with science.” This theme underscores a “One Health” approach aimed at safeguarding the welfare of humans, animals, plants, and the planet. This viewpoint stresses the growing environmental issues<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":902114,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[116],"tags":[382,381,380],"class_list":["post-902113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-programmes","tag-forever-chemicals","tag-planet","tag-secret-poisons"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iapsm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iapsm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iapsm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iapsm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iapsm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=902113"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/iapsm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902113\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":902124,"href":"https:\/\/iapsm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902113\/revisions\/902124"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iapsm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/902114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iapsm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=902113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iapsm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=902113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iapsm.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=902113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/iapsm.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/p2.jpg\")
Forever chemicals, also called PFAS, or Polyfluoroalkyl substances, are synthetic chemicals utilised in a multitude of products. They are referred to as \u201cForever Chemicals\u201d because they never break down and are notorious for their persistence. This characteristic stems from their robust carbon-fluorine bonds, which rank among the strongest chemical bonds found in nature. These bonds impart distinctive qualities that render them resistant to water, oil, and dirt, making them stain-proof. Sounds impressive, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/iapsm.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/p3.jpg\")
Common items that contain PFAS include teflon-coated non-stick cookware, food packaging products, dental floss, feminine hygiene products, paper cups, tea bags, take-away containers, and more. Other products encompass firefighting foams, water-repellent and stain-resistant clothing, paint, varnishes, and specific cosmetics.<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n
HEALTH HAZARDS OF PFAS<\/h2>\n
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“Dark Waters” (2019) tells the true story of lawyer Rob Bilott’s 20-year fight against DuPont, exposing their role in PFAS contamination of water sources. The film reveals how DuPont knowingly harmed people and animals, including their own workers, by denying the dangers of these toxic chemicals. Bilott’s relentless pursuit led to DuPont paying compensation and ultimately stopping PFAS production.[3]<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/iapsm.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/p5.jpg\")
DALDINIA CONCENTRICA, nicknamed “carbon antlers”<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/iapsm.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/p6.jpg\")
TIPS ON HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF<\/h2>\n\n
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PFAS won\u2019t be labelled as \u201cPFAS\u201d. Look for these red-flag terms like \u201cperfluoro\u201d or \u201cpolyfluoro\u201d prefixes<\/p>\n\n
REFERENCES<\/h3>\n
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