One in nine adults worldwide lives with diabetes. And for over 90% of them, it’s type 2—a chronic condition long linked to lifestyle, genetics, and increasingly, the environment. Now, mounting evidence suggests that a group of synthetic chemicals lurking in our homes, water, and even clothing may be pushing the odds higher.
In a recent study published in eBioMedicine, researchers found that higher levels of exposure to perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances—known as PFAS or “forever chemicals”—were associated with a 31% increase in the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
“PFAS can linger in our bodies for years, and we’re finding that even in healthy adults, the long-term consequences may be significant,” said Dr. Vishal Midya, the study’s senior author and an environmental medicine researcher at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
A Chemical Legacy in Everyday Life
PFAS are ubiquitous. They’re in nonstick cookware, food packaging, stain-resistant fabrics, and firefighting foam. Engineered for durability, they don’t break down easily—either in landfills or inside the human body.
Midya and his team analyzed blood samples and medical data from over 50,000 participants in New York City’s BioMe biobank. Among them, 180 individuals who were recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes were compared with 180 matched participants who had not developed the disease.
Despite being relatively healthy and without diabetes at baseline, participants with higher PFAS levels in their blood were more likely to develop the condition over time. These findings reinforce earlier studies linking PFAS to metabolic dysfunction in vulnerable groups such as pregnant individuals and adolescents.
But this study goes a step further—it’s among the first to examine the long-term metabolic effects of PFAS in healthy adults, years before any disease symptoms emerge.
“These chemicals are disrupting how the body manages fat and glucose,” Midya said. “And that disruption could be setting the stage for diabetes long before diagnosis.”
A Silent Threat with Far-Reaching Impact
The mechanism, researchers suggest, may be rooted in the chemicals’ ability to interfere with fat storage and glucose regulation—two key processes in the development of type 2 diabetes. Though inflammation and insulin resistance have been widely studied as culprits, environmental chemicals like PFAS may represent an overlooked but modifiable risk factor.
Dr. Mir Ali, a bariatric surgeon and medical director in Southern California, reviewed the study and called the findings “eye-opening.”
“We’ve long focused on diet and physical activity—and rightly so,” Ali said. “But environmental exposures might be the missing piece in our fight against this disease. It opens the door to prevention strategies we haven’t yet fully explored.”
Moving From Awareness to Action
While this particular study involved a relatively small sample, the implications are far-reaching. Midya and his team are now working to validate their findings in larger, more diverse populations.
He hopes the research will serve as a wake-up call for both policymakers and the public.
“We can’t undo past exposures,” he said. “But we can absolutely change the trajectory going forward. That means regulating PFAS in manufacturing and food packaging, and raising public awareness about the risks.”
In a world where diabetes is no longer rare and chemical exposure is nearly unavoidable, this study underscores a crucial truth: some of the most dangerous ingredients affecting our health aren’t in our food—they’re in the packaging that holds it.
