BENNINGTON — A survey of health issues among area residents exposed to PFOA in drinking water “shows a need for serious and sustained medical monitoring,” and for funding from polluters to cover health care costs, organizers say.
A questionnaire that was distributed door-to-door last year and made available online for residents of Bennington and Hoosick and Petersburgh in New York generated 443 unique responses. The survey focused on five diseases or conditions associated with PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid) exposure — including kidney and testicular cancer, thyroid disease, ulcerative colitis and pregnancy induced hypertension.
“This questionnaire introduced us to several local residents diagnosed with PFOA-associated cancers struggling to keep up with mounting medical bills,” said David Bond, associate director of the Center for the Advancement of Public Action at Bennington College, which supported the effort.
The report, issued during a morning press conference Tuesday, said there were 31 cases of kidney cancer among those questioned or family members, 11 of testicular cancer, 231 of thyroid disease, 35 of pregnancy induced hypertension, and 71 of ulcerative colitis.
Also involved in the effort were former EPA regional administrator Judith Enck, Dr. Howard Freed, former director of the New York Department of Health’s Center for Environmental Health; Zeke Bernstein, also of Bennington College; and environmental engineer Robert Chinery.
Bond said faculty and students from the college and local volunteers went door-to-door to distribute the survey during the fall and winter in Hoosick Falls, where PFOA contamination of drinking water was first confirmed in the region three years ago around two village factory sites.
“Every day we took the questionnaire into the community we were not only welcomed by residents, we also gained firsthand accounts of why local knowledge matters,” said Bond. “Far too often the voices of impacted communities are overlooked as key decisions are made from afar. This questionnaire shows just how important those voices are.”
“This health questionnaire was not a formal epidemiological study but a preliminary snapshot of the community’s understanding of its own health,” Freed said. “Nonetheless, the results demonstrate the presence of health problems associated with PFOA in Hoosick Falls, Petersburgh, and Bennington, and the need for a formal medical monitoring of these communities.”
Organizers said the questionnaire “was not designed to prove these illnesses were caused by PFOA but only to record the residents’ knowledge of local incidents of these illnesses. This questionnaire was also designed to record exposure to PFOA, and every single one of the 42 cancers reported on this questionnaire recorded having PFOA in their drinking water above the Vermont health guidance level of 20 parts per trillion [for drinking water].”
More cases found
The report also noted that the questionnaire revealed more cases of kidney and testicular cancer in Hoosick Falls than identified in a recent New York Department of Health report covering the period 1995-2014, which was based on archival state records concerning cancer.
Organizers said that discrepancy shows a need for further research on the health impacts of exposure to the chemical, production of which was discontinued by U.S. manufacturers in 2015 as part of an agreement with the federal government.
However, PFOA is persistent in the environment and was used for decades in industrial and consumer products, such as Teflon, and there are thousands of related compounds (referred to as PFAS, or (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) still in use.
Associated with exposure
A large medical study of exposure to PFOA near a DuPont factory in the Ohio River Valley region, which was part of a class-action lawsuit against DuPont, found an association between PFOA and the diseases or conditions listed in the local survey.
The key issues, Enck said, are that “PFOA has been associated with a number of serious illnesses. Residents of Hoosick Falls, Petersburgh, and Bennington were exposed to PFOA in the air and in their drinking water for an unknown period of time. People have the right to know if drinking contaminated water and breathing polluted air affected their health. The only way to do that is to establish a long-term medical monitoring program.”
A resident of Rensselaer County, N.Y., Enck revealed in 2015 early test results that showed the presence of PFOA in the Hoosick Falls well-fed water system, after local and state officials were slow to advise residents against drinking village water.
Enck was then administrator for the EPA region that includes New York during the Obama administration.
Other than continued medical monitoring for those with elevated levels of PFOA in their blood, Bond said related health care costs can be significant and should be borne by those responsible for the contamination of water supplies.
‘Lifetime of worry’
“Juggling chemotherapy and visits to specialized clinics on top of family and work, these individuals are now working second jobs and relying on GoFundMe campaigns to get the health care they need,” he said. “This is unacceptable. Victims of toxic pollution should never have to pay for their own medical treatment. Polluters should be required to fund the new healthcare needs PFOA has introduced.”
Residents with elevated PFOA levels in their blood “carry a lifetime of worry” about the possible long-term medical effects, Bond said.
In addition to questions about health issues, the survey also asked residents about the levels of PFOA found in their drinking water. There were 142 reporting levels of more than 401 parts per trillion; 42 with from 70 to 400 ppt. and 26 with from 20 to 69 ppt.
Bond said there were 10 questions concerning health information for the person and family members. The bulk of the responses were from Hoosick Falls, while 87 were from Bennington and 43 from Petersburgh.
“While most responses to this questionnaire came from Hoosick Falls, N.Y., the results show that the health concerns of all residents exposed to PFOA, including those in Bennington, are valid and warrant attention,” Bond said. “PFOA is a serious health hazard. It’s time for state leaders in Vermont and New York to insist on medical monitoring paid for by the polluters.”
Need for blood testing
Among other conclusions of the report were that there is a need for continued blood testing at no cost for those concerned about their exposure to PFOA; additional information sessions for residents by the health departments of both New York and Vermont, and for a citizens advisory group or groups to keep residents informed about issues surrounding the contamination.
The sources of the PFOA contamination of water supplies have been identified by state environmental officials as factories in each of the communities surveyed. PFOA is known to spread through spills or dumping and through exhaust stack emissions that contaminate soils and work into groundwater, affecting private or municipal wells.
Testing of wells around two former ChemFab Corp. plants in Bennington were first taken in early 2016 out of concern about the high PFOA levels found in the adjacent New York communities.
