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Dental Floss Might be Associated with Toxic Materials

Flossing your teeth with certain types of floss could expose you to higher levels of toxic chemicals according to new research.
Flossing your teeth with certain types of floss could expose you to higher levels of toxic chemicals according to new research.
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Dental Floss Might be Associated with Toxic Materials

Flossing your teeth with certain types of floss could expose you to higher levels of toxic chemicals according to new research.
Flossing your teeth with certain types of floss could expose you to higher levels of toxic chemicals according to new research.

A new US study has warned from toxic substances that can be transmitted into your body through dental floss, which contains a PFAS chemical substance.

PFAS are resistant to water and grease, and usually interfere with fast-food packaging, waterproof clothing and stain-resistant carpet. Consumers can be exposed to PFAS through the products they use and the food they eat, and even through the air and dust inside their homes.

Previous studies also warned from the risk of using these materials, which contribute to high levels of toxic chemicals. But the new study, published Wednesday in the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology (JESEE), said it found PFAS in a type of dental floss.

During the study, led by the Silent Spring Institute in collaboration with the Public Health Institute in Berkeley, California, researchers measured 11 different PFAS chemicals in blood samples taken from 178 middle-aged women and then compared blood measurements with the results of interviews in which they asked women about nine behaviors that can lead to increased exposure.

The study’s lead author, Katie Boronow, said in a report published on the Institute's website in conjunction with the study: "We found that Women who flossed with Oral-B Glide tended to have higher levels of a type of PFAS called PFHxS (perfluorohexanesulfonic acid) in their body compared with those who didn't. By using a technique called PIGE spectroscopy, Oral-B Glide products were tested, and we found the acid in the blood of the women."

"We found other PFAS materials in the blood of some women who consume fast food wrapped in paper, or have stain-resistant carpets or waterproof clothing, but the surprise was in the dental floss," she said.

Scientists are concerned about the widespread use of PFAS, especially after studies have shown their health risks.

According to Boronow, "these substances are linked to health effects leading to kidney and testicular cancer, thyroid disease, high cholesterol, low birth weight, low fertility, and immune system problems.”

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Japan's Space One Kairos Rocket Fails Minutes after Liftoff

The solid-fuel Kairos rocket by Tokyo-based startup Space One is launched at the company's Spaceport Kii launch pad in Kushimoto, Wakayama Prefecture on December 18, 2024. (Photo by JIJI PRESS / AFP) / Japan OUT
The solid-fuel Kairos rocket by Tokyo-based startup Space One is launched at the company's Spaceport Kii launch pad in Kushimoto, Wakayama Prefecture on December 18, 2024. (Photo by JIJI PRESS / AFP) / Japan OUT
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Japan's Space One Kairos Rocket Fails Minutes after Liftoff

The solid-fuel Kairos rocket by Tokyo-based startup Space One is launched at the company's Spaceport Kii launch pad in Kushimoto, Wakayama Prefecture on December 18, 2024. (Photo by JIJI PRESS / AFP) / Japan OUT
The solid-fuel Kairos rocket by Tokyo-based startup Space One is launched at the company's Spaceport Kii launch pad in Kushimoto, Wakayama Prefecture on December 18, 2024. (Photo by JIJI PRESS / AFP) / Japan OUT

Japan's Space One terminated the flight of its Kairos small rocket shortly after liftoff on Wednesday, marking the end of its second attempt in nine months to become the country's first company to deliver a satellite to space.
It is the latest in a series of recent setbacks for Japanese rocket development, even as the government looks to boost the domestic space industry and is targeting 30 rocket launches annually by the early 2030s, Reuters reported.
Authorities are pushing to make Japan Asia's space transportation hub in what they hope will be an 8 trillion yen ($52 billion) space industry.
The second Kairos flight, which only lasted about 10 minutes, was terminated because "the achievement of its mission would be difficult", Space One said in an email to reporters.
Live images from the local Wakayama prefecture government showed the 18-meter (59 ft) solid-propellant rocket blasting off from Spaceport Kii in western Japan at 11:00 a.m. (0200 GMT) but losing stability in its trajectory as it ascended.
Five small satellites, including one from the Taiwan Space Agency, were on board the rocket headed into sun-synchronous orbit roughly 500 km (311 miles) above the Earth's surface.
Tokyo-based Space One was founded in 2018 by Canon Electronics, IHI's aerospace unit, construction firm Shimizu and a state-backed bank, with the goal of launching 20 small rockets a year by 2029 to capture growing satellite launch demand.
At its debut flight in March, Kairos, carrying a Japanese government satellite, exploded five seconds after launch.
Inappropriate flight settings triggered the rocket's autonomous self-destruct system even though no issues were found in its hardware, Space One later said.
A lack of domestic launch options has seen emerging Japanese space startups such as radar satellite maker iQPS and debris mitigator Astroscale tapping on SpaceX's rideshare missions or leading small rocket provider Rocket Lab .
Recent Japanese rocket projects have also faced other setbacks.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) postponed the debut flight of the new solid-fuel launcher Epsilon S after its engine combustion test failed last month for a second time.
JAXA's larger liquid-propellant rocket H3 also failed at its inaugural launch in March 2023 but has succeeded in three flights this year, winning orders from clients such as French satellite giant Eutelsat.
In 2019, Interstellar Technologies became the first Japanese firm to send a rocket into space without a satellite payload, but its orbital launcher Zero is still under development.