The scope of Michigan’s investigation into PFAS contamination of drinking water has involved many communities, local governments, and agencies such as the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
In the middle of it all has been Dr. William Nettleton, assistant professor in the medical school’s Department of Family and Community Medicine and medical director for Kalamazoo County Health and Community Services and the Calhoun County Public Health Department.
Dr. Nettleton’s work as part of the multi-agency response to PFAS contamination has spanned across two counties and three different scenarios. The sites of concern include private drinking wells near the Air National Guard Base (ANGB) in Calhoun County, private wells near a defunct plastics factory in Richland Township, and the municipal well water system and surrounding private wells in the City of Parchment and Cooper Township. The municipal well water system in Parchment found levels of PFAS at 20 to 26 times higher than the EPA lifetime health advisory level of 70 parts per trillion (ppt).The state of Michigan, Dr. Nettleton said, adopted the EPA’s lifetime health advisory level of 70 ppt in January 2018.
The testing at all of these sites, Dr. Nettleton said, was performed as part of the Michigan PFAS Action Response Team (MPART), a multi-agency task force that was launched in 2017 to investigate sources and locations of PFAS contamination in the state. The test results in Parchment marked the first time PFAS contamination above the state and federal advisory level was found in a municipal water system since MPART was launched, he said.
The Parchment test results launched an immediate, multi-faceted response that led to local and state declarations of emergency. The response included distribution of bottled water to the 3,100 people using Parchment’s water system, as well as Parchment’s system being connected to the city of Kalamazoo’s water.
Additionally, Dr. Nettleton said, several town hall meetings were held to inform the public about the PFAS contamination and the potential health hazards posed by the contaminant.
“The public health response has been extraordinary,” Dr. Nettleton said.
PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, such as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), are part of a group of chemicals used globally during the past century in manufacturing, firefighting and thousands of common household and other consumer products.
Dr. Nettleton said some common consumer products that contact PFAS include Teflon, pizza boxes, microwave popcorn bags and Scotchguard, which is used regularly as a stain preventer on furniture and carpet.
“Most people have, at some point, been exposed to PFAS,” Dr. Nettleton said.
He said PFAS do not break down easily and therefore linger in the environment for years. He said several manufacturers began phasing out the use of the chemicals around 2000 out of concern for potential contamination.
In the time since the PFAS contamination was discovered near the ANGB in Calhoun County, in Richland Township, and Parchment and Cooper Township, Dr. Nettleton said he has taken on the role of being a liaison to state and federal officials as they work to address resident concerns about health effects and assess residents’ exposure to PFAS.
Dr. Nettleton said the PFAS contamination in Calhoun County is thought to have been come from firefighting foam used at the ANGB, while the source in Richland has been identified as a defunct plated plastics factory. In Parchment, officials believe the contamination is coming from a dump site for the city’s former paper mill.
Dr. Nettleton said long-term PFAS exposure has been associated with – or linked to – thyroid disease, high cholesterol, kidney cancer, testicular cancer, compromised immune effects, increasing chance of high blood pressure in pregnant women. However, Dr. Nettleton said that much is still being learned about PFAS and exposure to the chemicals, up to this point, has not been classified as a cause of those negative health effects the way other toxic substances such as radon and asbestos have been clearly shown to cause lung cancer.
“That level of causation does not exist for PFAS,” Dr. Nettleton said. “It has not been established and you can see how there is a level of uncertainty there. The challenge for public health officials like myself is to acknowledge that uncertainty but also communicate that we do know enough to act in an effort to protect the health of the public.”
As his work continues, Dr. Nettleton will partner with state officials to assess overall PFAS exposure to residents connected to Parchment’s municipal well system.
He said such an assessment is “for the common good and to benefit the entire community and future communities.” He also said the assessment will be a stepping stone toward conducting a comprehensive health study, if indicated, that would closely examine the health outcomes of long-term PFAS exposure.
As it all plays out, Dr. Nettleton said he wants to work as a partner with members of the community.
“I want to walk with our community through this entire experience,” he said. “We all live here, it’s our community.”