Can early-life PFAS and heavy metal exposure reduce your child's lung function?

What's actually in it

Children absorb PFAS from nonstick cookware, stain-resistant carpets, food packaging, and tap water. They also pick up heavy metals like lead and cadmium from old paint, dust, certain foods, and contaminated water. These exposures start before birth, when chemicals cross the placenta, and continue through breast milk, formula, and the home environment.

A child's lungs are still growing well into their teens. Chemical exposure during this window can affect lung development in ways that last a lifetime.

What the research says

A 2026 prospective study in Environ Int followed children from birth through school age, measuring their exposure to PFAS and heavy metals at multiple time points. At school age, the children took lung function tests.

Children with higher early-life exposure to PFAS and heavy metals had lower lung function scores. Their lungs didn't hold as much air and couldn't push it out as forcefully as children with lower exposure.

The effects were linked to both prenatal and postnatal exposure, suggesting the damage begins in the womb and continues after birth. The study looked at the combined effect of multiple chemicals together, which is how exposure works in real life.

Protecting a child's lungs starts with reducing exposure sources: using PFAS-free cookware, filtering drinking water, keeping homes clean of lead-containing dust, and avoiding stain-resistant treatments on carpets and furniture in children's rooms.