{"id":40426,"date":"2025-07-27T05:43:15","date_gmt":"2025-07-27T05:43:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/40426\/"},"modified":"2025-07-27T05:43:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-27T05:43:15","slug":"new-research-uncovers-gene-impacts-of-pfas-exposure-in-firefighters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/40426\/","title":{"rendered":"New research uncovers gene impacts of PFAS exposure in firefighters"},"content":{"rendered":"

Researchers at the\u00a0University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health<\/a> found that certain kinds of long-lasting chemicals firefighters are exposed to may affect the activity of genes linked to cancer and other diseases. The findings appear in the journal\u00a0Environmental Research<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Melissa Furlong, PhD, is an assistant professor of environmental health sciences at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health and a member of the University of Arizona Cancer Center and the Center for Firefighter Health Collaborative Research.<\/p>\n

Photo by Kris Hanning, U of A Health Sciences Office of Communications<\/p>\n

The study is among the first to connect common industrial chemicals called PFAS \u2013 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances \u2013 to changes in microRNAs, or miRNAs, which are molecules that act as guardrails to help control gene expression.\u00a0<\/p>\n

PFAS are found in a wide range of products, including upholstery, insulation, electronics, cleaning products, fabrics, non-stick cookware \u2013 and firefighting foam and gear. Firefighters can be at higher risk for certain cancers, and exposure to toxic chemicals may be one reason why.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFirefighters tend to have higher PFAS levels due to their occupational exposures,\u201d said first author Melissa Furlong, PhD, an assistant professor of environmental health sciences at the Zuckerman College of Public Health and a member of both the\u00a0University of Arizona Cancer Center<\/a> and the Center for Firefighter Health Collaborative Research. \u201cGene activity can be affected by changes in the environment. We wanted to see the imprint of PFAS exposure on miRNAs and evaluate which ones might be associated with diseases.\u201d<\/p>\n

The scientists analyzed blood samples from 303 firefighters from six locations across the U.S. to measure levels of nine PFAS and corresponding miRNA activity. Changes in miRNAs can play roles in a range of different diseases, including cancers and neurological disorders.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They found that blood levels of certain PFAS in this group of firefighters were associated with changes in specific miRNA activity. The latter were connected to disease pathways for several cancers, neurological disorders and autoimmune conditions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Furlong was surprised by the number and range of biological pathways that showed up for some of the PFAS, indicating potentially broad impacts on the human body.<\/p>\n

For example, a common PFAS called PFOS, or perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, was associated with\u00a0lower levels of miR-128-1-5p, a miRNA tied to cancer development. Branched forms of PFOS were linked to changes in five other miRNAs, including some known to play roles in regulating cancer development.<\/p>\n

More specifically, Furlong and her team found connections among PFAS-related miRNA changes and biological pathways involved in leukemia and bladder, liver, thyroid and breast cancers. They also found miRNA alterations linked to biological pathways involved in neurological diseases, including Alzheimer\u2019s disease, and autoimmune and infectious diseases such as lupus, asthma and tuberculosis.<\/p>\n

Furlong noted that while the study didn\u2019t show direct disease outcomes, the findings pointed to biological changes that might precede disease. A better understanding of the potential biological effects of these kinds of exposures could help in developing new ways to prevent or reduce long-term health risks.<\/p>\n

Jeff Burgess, MD, MPH, is a professor in the Department of Community, Environment and Policy at the Zuckerman College of Public Health and fouding director of the Center for Firefighter Health Collaborative Research.<\/p>\n

Kris Hanning, U of A Health Sciences Office of Communications<\/p>\n

\u201cIdentifying an early miRNA signature could indicate a higher likelihood of certain health outcomes, such as a cancer or another disease,\u201d she said. \u201cIt could be an early indicator of a biological response that could lead to that health outcome.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Changes to DNA that affect gene activity \u2013 but don\u2019t alter genes themselves \u2013 are known as epigenetic changes. Senior author Jeff Burgess, MD, MPH, has been collaborating with firefighters on health and safety research since 1992, with a focus on cancer risk and prevention since 2015. Some of his previous research with firefighters identified epigenetic changes linked to\u00a0health risks<\/a>, including\u00a0cancer<\/a>, and provided evidence that helped support the\u00a0international classification of firefighting as carcinogenic<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirefighters have requested research on how their exposures lead to increased risk of cancer,\u201d said Burgess, who founded the Center for Firefighter Health Collaborative Research and is a professor at the Zuckerman College of Public Health and a U of A Cancer Center member. \u201cEpigenetic markers provide a measure of cancer risk and can also be used to determine the effectiveness of interventions to reduce cancer risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Furlong, Burgess and others are working on long-term follow-up studies with firefighters to find ways to help prevent the development of diseases.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf epigenetics is the mechanism by which PFAS initially works and then later on results in a range of diseases, then that might mean the miRNA could be a modifiable step,\u201d Furlong said. \u201cPharmaceutical companies are already working on treatments that are focused on epigenetic modifications. We have much more work to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

The study included participants from two firefighter cancer prevention studies, as well as some from the Tucson Fire Department. Additional co-authors from the Zuckerman College of Public Health include former graduate research associate Tuo Liu, PhD, and Shawn Beitel,\u00a0research program administration officer for the Firefighter Health Collaborative Research Program. The study is also part of the larger Fire Fighter Cancer Cohort Study<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The work was supported in part by the Federal Emergency Management Agency under award nos. EMW-2014-FP-00200, EMW-2015-FP-00213 and EMW-2018-FP-00086, the National Cancer Institute, a division of the National Institutes of Health, under award no. P30CA023074, and the NIH\u2019s National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences under award nos. R00ES028743, P30ES006694 and T32ES007091.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Researchers at the\u00a0University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health found that certain kinds of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":40427,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[200,79],"class_list":["post-40426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-genetics","tag-genetics","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40426\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}