Are synthetic chemicals altering the fabric of our bodies?

It’s certainly worth reflecting on:

It’s fair to say that PCBs and fluorocarbons have altered the biochemical composition of the food web and the interior of the human body, and in the case of the PFASs, the water we drink. (Some PFASs can even fall with rain.) These have been swift, sweeping changes over the course of just three or four generations, too quick for the slow-grinding machinery of human evolution to adapt. And yet, PCBs and PFASs are now an integral part of the human story. They pass from species to species, from mother to child. They are present from conception to death, and consumed with daily meals and holy feasts. The presence of PCBs alone shapes how humankind reproduces itself, how our young develop, and even whether subsequent generations will be susceptible to certain cancers or resilient against disease. Pam Weintraub, “Time-bombing the future” at Aeon

If that’s so, then researchers who are advancing claims about recent evolution will need to consider these possible effects.

See also: Can Cities Serve As Cauldrons Of Evolution (Speciation)?

and

Smithsonian: We Really Don’t Know Why Humans Don’t Have Fur

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