The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) is the recipient of a $1-million grant to investigate the relationship between drinking water contaminated with PFAS and health outcomes. The grant was awarded by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR).
The goal of the health study is to understand the relationship between PFAS exposure and health outcomes in differing populations. The MDHHS will conduct a study with residents that have been exposed to PFAS-contaminated drinking water in the City of Parchment, Cooper Township, and Kent County. MDHHS is seeking to recruit 1,000 adults and 300 children in these areas to participate in the study.
The City of Parchment’s municipal water supply was found to be contaminated with PFAS after analytical testing in June 2018. More then 3,100 people in Parchment and Cooper Township received their drinking water from this contaminated municipal water supply. A “Do Not Drink” advisory was issued and within a month the City of Parchment connected to the City of Kalamazoo’s water supply. The source of the PFAS contamination is targeting the Crown Vantage site that includes a former landfill used for the disposal of paper making waste, a former wastewater treatment plant, former settling lagoons, and former mill property.
The State of Michigan is managing multiple PFAS contamination sites in northern Kent County, including Belmont, Plainfield Township, and Rockford.
“There is much that is unknown about the health effects of exposures to these chemicals,” said Patrick Breysse, PHD, CIH, Director of ATSDR and CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health, in the official release announcing the grants. “The multi-site study will advance the scientific evidence on the human health effects of PFAS and provide some answers to communities exposed to the contaminated drinking water.”
The CDC and ATSDR awarded seven grants as the start of a multi-site health study. Other grants were awarded to universities and organizations in Colorado, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and California.
Merit is a leading PFAS environmental laboratory, analyzing drinking water, soil, wastewater, groundwater, and other sample matrices. Merit is certified for the analysis of PFAS by ISO/IEC 17025. Analytical method certification for PFAS includes drinking water by EPA 537 rev. 1.1 and wastewater, groundwater, and surface water by ASTM D7979 with Isotopic Dilution. Please contact Merit Laboratories for assistance on your PFAS testing needs.