Table 4.
Pathological effects of exposure to forever chemicals (persistent organic pollutants and brominate fire retardants) reported in humans and companion animals.
| Forever Chemical Compound | Effects in Pets | Effects in Humans | References |
|---|---|---|---|
| PFAS: producing endocrine thyroid toxins | Cats: hyperthyroidism, hyperplastic or adenomatous thyroid nodules, abnormal thyroid, and thyroid-stimulating hormone levels | Toxic nodular goiter, abnormal thyroid and thyroid-stimulating hormone levels | [108,115,116,117,118,119,120,121,122,123,124,125,126] |
| PBDEs | Dogs: hypothyroidism | Thyroid toxicity | [127,128,129,130] |
| PFAS: acting as obegosenic substance | Cats: obesity | Child and adult obesity | [84,123,131] |
| PFAS: acting as diabetogenic | Cats: type 2 diabetes | Gestational diabetes mellitus, type 2 diabetes, pancreatic islet amyloid deposition | [131,132,133,134,135,136,137] |
| PFAS | Dogs: fatty tumors, pancreatic dysfunction, gastrointestinal disorders | Chronic liver disease, fatty liver disease, hepatotoxicity | [113,138,139,140] |
| PFOA, PFOS | Dogs (Beagles and police dogs): lowered cholesterol | Lowered direct bilirubin, changes inβbilirubin, βalt, βalp, increased alanine aminotransferase, Alcaline phosphatase, aspartate aminotransferase, gamma glutamyl transferase | [105,107,141,142,143,144] |
| PFNA, PFDA | Dogs: increased circulating cholesterol | High blood cholesterol | [107,142,143] |
| PBDEs PCBs |
Dogs: poor semen quality, testicular cancer | Disruption of reproductive function and infertility, decreased sperm counts, and genital malformations | [42,145,146] |
| PCBs | Dogs: liver cancer, meningioma, pancreatic cancer, mammary cancer in females | Melanomas, liver and gall bladder cancer, biliary tract, gastrointestinal tract, brain cancer | [120,140,147,148,149,150] |
| PCBs | Cats: lower brain weight at birth | Decreased birth weight and head size | [117,151,152] |
PFAS—per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances; PBDEs—polybrominated diphenyl ethers; PFOA—perfluorooctanoate; PFOS—perfluorooctane sulfonate; PFNA—perfluorononanoic acid; PFDA—nonadecafluorodecanoic acid; PCBs—polychlorinated biphenyls.