Food additives and pesticides may be harming gut health, study says

Researchers say they’ve identified 168 chemicals that may affect gut bacteria, substances that people can encounter in a range of everyday environments.

Experts from the University of Cambridge published a study Tuesday in the journal Nature Microbiology that found many everyday substances can hinder the growth of beneficial gut bacteria, and it goes beyond pesticides.

The scientists studied how 1,076 chemical contaminants affected 22 bacterial species, creating a machine-learning model to forecast how likely chemicals were to harm gut health.

The chemicals included bisphenol AF (BPAF), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), glyphosate, chlordecone, imazalil and dozens more.

The substances span a wide range of uses, from flame retardants and fungicides to insecticides and plastic additives.

P