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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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Engineers Seek to Save 150-year-old Lighthouse from Crumbling into Hudson River

The lighthouse was built in the river 100 miles (161 kilometers) north of Manhattan to keep boats from running aground on mud flats. AP
The lighthouse was built in the river 100 miles (161 kilometers) north of Manhattan to keep boats from running aground on mud flats. AP
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Engineers Seek to Save 150-year-old Lighthouse from Crumbling into Hudson River

The lighthouse was built in the river 100 miles (161 kilometers) north of Manhattan to keep boats from running aground on mud flats. AP
The lighthouse was built in the river 100 miles (161 kilometers) north of Manhattan to keep boats from running aground on mud flats. AP

Federal engineers will begin the process of preserving a functioning 150-year-old lighthouse that sits precariously on a mudflat in the middle of the Hudson River in New York, officials announced this week.
US Sen. Chuck Schumer and the Army Corps of Engineers said that $50,000 has been allocated to study how to protect the Hudson-Athens Lighthouse, which began operating in 1874 and was this year placed on the National Trust for Historic Preservation's list of the country’s 11 most endangered historic places.
Schumer, a New York Democrat, said he believes the development is the next step to securing all the money needed to save the structure, which is only years away from starting to crumble into the river due to ongoing erosion, according to preliminary studies by a historic preservation group.
“This is a landmark, it’s sort of like the Statue of Liberty in a certain sense, of the Hudson River,” Schumer told The Associated Press by phone after announcing the new funding at a riverfront park in Athens, New York, which has a view of the lighthouse. “When people see the lighthouse and learn its history, they learn the history of the country."
The Corps of Engineers will now meet with the Hudson-Athens Lighthouse Preservation Society, which owns the building and maintains it as a museum, and agree on a plan to fix the property, Schumer said.
He said the millions of dollars needed to ultimately rebuild the small island and preserve it are “virtually certain” because it has been listed as a top priority for preservation.
The lighthouse was built in the river 100 miles (161 kilometers) north of Manhattan to keep boats from running aground on mud flats between Athens, on the west side of the Hudson River, and the city of Hudson, on the east side. The lighthouse is still in use, though now with an automated LED beacon.
It sits on roughly 200 wood pilings packed in mud beneath the water. Turbulence from passing commercial ships is washing away that mud and exposing the pilings to river water, accelerating decay.
The society has proposed expanding the foundation the lighthouse is built on so that events can be held there and more visitors can walk on the island at once. It has been raising money to build a ring of corrugated steel designed to shield the structure from river turbulence.