Researchers from the Silent Spring Institute revealed this week that, among Hyannis residents who lived in the community over a recent 10-year period, blood levels of PFHxS were about 3.2 times higher than the median for the general population.
Hyannis residents Jane Walsh and Betsy Young listen closely to the presentation about how PFAS chemicals could affect their health.
As a result of her participation, Walsh learned that her blood levels of PFHxS – one of the 14,000 known types of PFAS chemicals — are dramatically high. The national average is 1.2 parts per billion in the blood — a relatively tiny amount that’s comparable to 1.2 droplets in an Olympic-sized swimming pool. Americans whose blood contains 3.8 parts per billion are in the 95th percentile. Walsh’s blood contains 18 parts per billion, or 15 times the national average.
Dr. Laurel Schaider shares slides that give insight into how much PFAS was found in the blood of Hyannis residents compared to the general population and residents of Ayer, MA. “And then we also compared children ages 4 to 17 to the adults who took part in our study,” Schaider said. “And we did see, particularly for PFOS and PFHxS, that adults were about three to four times higher compared to children.”
When all the measured PFAS were added up, researchers found Hyannis has a higher proportion of adults with blood levels over 20 parts per billion than the general population— about 38% vs 13%, or nearly three times the proportion. That’s the highest risk category, which experts say should be met with more intense screenings with clinicians.
Dr. Laurel Schaider provide an overview of the study, a summary of PFAS blood test results for Hyannis, guidance for participants on how to interpret their results, and resources to help residents reduce their exposures to PFAS and protect their health. ”In Hyannis, experts believe, the extremely high levels of PFAS found in blood samples were caused by exposure to drinking water contaminated by firefighting foam. For decades, the PFAS-laden foam was used at the Barnstable County Fire Training Academy and Barnstable Municipal Airport . Because of the Cape’s sandy, porous soil, it traveled with ease into the aquifer that provides the region with its drinking water.
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