New research has revealed that the connection between per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, and kidney damage may be tied to dysregulation of the gut microbiome, which is made up of bacteria and other microorganisms that live in the digestive tract. They found that increased PFAS exposure was associated with worse kidney function four years later, and that changes in the gut microbiome and related metabolites explained up to 50% of that decrease in function. The researchers analyzed data from 78 participants, ages 17 to 22, enrolled in the Southern California Children's Health Study, a large-scale longitudinal effort to understand...