CHICAGO (Reuters) – Chemicals used to make non-stick coatings on cookware and to waterproof fabrics may raise levels of cholesterol in children, US researchers said this week.

Children in a study with the highest levels of these compounds in their blood had measurably higher levels of total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein, or LDL – the so-called "bad" cholesterol – compared with children with lower readings. The findings do not prove exposure to these chemicals, called perfluoroalkyl acids, caused the higher readings, but they show a link and suggest the need for more study, Stephanie Frisbee of West Virginia University and colleagues wrote in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. The researchers studied perfluorooctanoic acid or PFOA and perfluorooctanesulfonate or PFOS. They make their way into people through drinking water, dust, food packaging, breast milk, cord blood, microwave popcorn, air and occupational exposure, according to the researchers. Studies in animals suggest perfluoroalkyl acid can affect the liver, which could result in changes in cholesterol levels. Frisbee and colleagues examined cholesterol levels in blood samples taken from more than 12,000 children in the mid-Ohio River Valley who had PFOA in their drinking water.

Children and teens in the study had more PFOA in their bodies than the national average, and a PFOS concentration about the same as the national average.