Heavy 'Forever Chemical' Exposure Before Birth Increases Childhood Asthma Risk, Study Finds

FRIDAY, April 10, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Babies exposed to PFAS “forever chemicals” in the womb have a higher risk of developing childhood asthma, a new study says.

Very high prenatal exposure to PFAS appears to increase children’s risk of asthma by 44%, researchers reported April 9 in the journal PLOS Medicine.

The new study focused on Ronneby, a town in southern Sweden where part of the city water supply was contaminated by runoff from a military airfield. 

PFAS levels in tainted drinking water were more than 200 times higher than those of neighboring public water systems.

Researchers compared children born in Ronneby to those born in its county as a whole.