Drinking Water Pollution: Risks Doubled by These Pollutants

This is an alarming hypothesis raised by a Swedish study published in the journal Nature Communications : certain “eternal pollutants”, present in drinking water and well known for their harmfulness, would double the risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS). Two families of toxic chemical substances are involved: PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) and PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls).

Invisible but very harmful pollutants

Although PCBs have been banned since 1979 in the United States and the State of Maryland banned most uses of PFAS in 2024, these compounds continue to circulate in the environment and in the human body, where they have been detected almost everywhere. According to the Maryland Department of the Environment, traces of PFAS were still identified in drinking water in 2022. These “perennial pollutants” are now known for their harmful effects on health: cancers, high blood pressure, cholesterol, hormonal disruptions, or even weakening of the immune system, according to American health authorities, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

But this time, it is their link with a serious autoimmune disease that worries: multiple sclerosis. As part of their work, the scientists examined the blood of 907 recently diagnosed MS patients and 907 healthy people. “We observed that several substances, such as PFOS [acide perfluorooctanesulfonique] and certain hydroxylated PCBs, were associated with an increased risk of MS. explains Kim Kultima, a researcher at Uppsala University, in a communiqué. “People with the highest concentrations of PFOS and PCBs were approximately twice as likely to be diagnosed as those with the lowest concentrations.”

PFAS, a new risk factor for MS?

Multiple sclerosis affects more than 1.8 million people worldwide, including 110,000 in France. according to the World Health Organization (WHO). It generally manifests itself between the ages of 20 and 40, causing motor, sensory and vision disorders, due to an autoimmune reaction against the central nervous system. Although corticosteroid injections can slow its progression, no curative treatment exists to date.

Known risk factors for MS include smoking, obesity during adolescence and low vitamin D levels. Swedish researchers now suggest adding PFAS to the list: “We need to consider environmental pollutants as potential risk factors for autoimmune diseases.” An alert that could well change our outlook on the water we drink every day.