A major study of PFAS-contaminated drinking water into people living near military bases in Bucks and Montgomery Counties shows associations with elevated cholesterol, increased blood pressure, and lower childhood development, according to preliminary findings.
PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a family of compounds known as forever chemicals because they resist breaking down in the environment and in the human body.
A separate analysis showed cancer clusters in those communities, but more research is needed to determine whether there is a correlation between cancer rates and the water, say the study’s investigators.
Lead researchers from RTI International and Temple University presented the findings Wednesday at Hatboro-Horsham High School during an event hosted by the Buxmont Coalition for Safer Water.
The ongoing study, part of an effort by the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry and Centers for Disease Control, examined PFAS exposure in Pennsylvania and seven other states: California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and New York. It included 5,826 adults and 710 children ages 4-17.
» READ MORE: People who lived near Bucks, Montco military bases had higher level of toxic compounds in blood than U.S. average
Wednesday’s presentation focused on Pennsylvania, where researchers collected blood from residents in 11 townships in Bucks and Montgomery Counties who lived near military bases where firefighting foam contaminated local drinking water supplies for decades. About 180 people attended the meeting.
“We have waited a long time for these study results to be released,” said Joanne Stanton, of the Buxmont Coalition for Safer Water, a grassroots organization formed after the PFAS contamination was first identified. “For the past 12 years, our community has carried an unimaginable heavy burden.”
According to baseline testing, local participants had elevated concentrations of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in their blood. Levels in PFAS and associated compounds — PFOS, PFOA, PFHxS, and PFNA — exceeded national averages. Pennsylvania ranked second highest nationally among all study sites for PFOS and PFHxS.
“These higher levels [of PFAS] are consistent with decades of exposure to firefighting foam used at the military bases,” said Linda Brown, the Pennsylvania study’s director from RTI International, an independent research institute.
Impacts on blood pressure, immunity, cholesterol, IQ
Brown said 1,251 adults and 89 children from Pennsylvania gave blood for the study.
“Adults with higher PFAS levels in their blood tended to have higher blood pressure,” she said.
High blood pressure is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, she said.
Brown also said elevated PFAS levels were associated with higher cholesterol, including LDL, the so-called bad cholesterol. All four PFAS compounds were associated with higher cholesterol in both adults and children.
She said, however, that preliminary results did not find a clear pattern linking PFOS levels with heart disease, diabetes, thyroid disease, or obesity.
Overall, children with higher PFAS levels had lower levels of certain antibodies that help the body fight infection, she said. The findings suggest PFAS may affect the immune responses, including the response to vaccines. But the findings don’t tell researchers whether any individual child’s vaccines were less effective.
Higher levels of exposure to PFAS during pregnancy and early childhood also showed patterns of lower abilities of language, reasoning, and cognition. But she cautioned that the patterns can’t tell a parent how PFAS may have affected their own child.
Cancer clusters
The study had too few cases of individual cancer types to complete a statistical analysis from the blood samples given. Cancer is not part of the original study.
To fill the gap, Resa Jones, a Temple researcher, said the group used a grant from Pennsylvania to separately look at overall cancer cases in 12 counties.
Jones said researchers pulled data from the state’s cancer registry to find the rate per 100,000 people. Mapping showed geographical clusters of elevated kidney, thyroid, breast, endometrial, and ovarian cancer incidence in Bucks and Montgomery Counties.
“We definitely have spatial clustering of the cancers,” Jones said of the two counties.
In municipalities with the highest totals of breast cancer, half had PFAS levels above minimum reporting levels for drinking water, Jones said.
But Jones stressed that more research is needed and that the results are preliminary.
Kidney function
In addition, Robin Taylor Wilson, another investigator from Temple University, said longer exposure to PFAS was also associated with lower kidney filtration rates and chronic kidney disease.
The study highlighted heightened renal vulnerability among specific subpopulations, reporting that older residents, individuals with a history of blood transfusions or thyroid disorders, and cancer survivors faced significantly higher risks of chronic kidney disease.
Hope Grosse, of the Buxmont Coalition for Safer Water, said the release of preliminary results of the study gives future researchers a solid foundation for further study into PFAS.
“While these study results cannot undo the damage or bring back what we have lost, we hope that they are the beginning of the answers that we deserve,” Grosse said.