ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico — It's a name many people have a hard time pronouncing, but these synthetic chemicals are used in everything from fast food packaging to nonstick cookware, clothing, household cleaning products and even firefighting foam.
PFAS—or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances—are resistant to degradation and have ended up in the drinking water, soil, air and bloodstream of 99% of Americans.
That's certainly true for people who live or work near the plume of contamination that leaked outside of Cannon Air Force Base, where firefighting foam containing PFAS was used for years.
New Mexico health and environmental officials conducted a study $1.2 million test projecttaking blood from almost 630 people. They shared the results Thursday evening during a public meeting.
research shows that 99.7% of participants had one or more PFAS in their blood, the most common of which was associated with firefighting foam.
While that percentage is not surprising given the overall prevalence of so-called forever chemicals in the environment, officials said some residents living in the plume area had significantly higher concentrations than the broader testing group. About a quarter of these had levels reaching the highest concentration level used in national guidelines.
The findings suggest a correlation with groundwater contamination migrating from the base, state officials said.
New Mexico Environment Secretary James Kenney said during the meeting that his agency will help the community in any way possible, but the state is still on lockdown. trial with the US Department of Defense regarding damage caused by pollution.
At Cannon Air Force Base, state officials reported that PFAS was detected in groundwater at a concentration of 26,200 parts per trillion, exceeding state and federal drinking water standards by more than 650,000%.
Earlier this year, Cannon said it had spent more than $73 million so far researching the problem and piloting projects to clean up contaminated groundwater.
Kenney said it's time for the federal government to begin cleaning up the area off base.
“We need all of New Mexico to stand up and say we did this,” he said.
PFAS exposure is associated with increased cholesterol levels, slight decreases in birth weight, kidney and testicular cancer, and changes in liver enzymes.
Government officials said in a report released in August that some chemicals can persist in the blood for several years after exposure. EPA research has also found that it can take weeks or years for levels of many PFAS to be reduced by half in a person's blood, provided exposure does not continue.
It's not easy to draw a clear line between exposure and health consequences, said Tasha Stoiber, a senior scientist at the Washington Environmental Working Group.
“There are so many different factors that influence individual health indicators and what levels you'll see in your blood,” she said, explaining that a person's age, where they live, what they eat and drink and where they work can all play a role.
According to slides provided to the audience, tests in Curry County showed that PFAS levels tended to increase with age, that men had higher levels, and those with military or aviation careers had higher concentrations — all consistent with national data.
Watchdog groups that track PFAS across the country say the contamination is more widespread than previously thought. They use data published by the Environmental Protection Agency and states to compile cards shows locations across the country where drinking water systems are reporting levels above guidelines. The infection was also confirmed in hundreds of military bases around the country.
That includes a base in southern New Mexico, where state officials are beginning another medical survey to assess the impact on a nearby lake where scientists have recorded some of the highest levels of PFAS in wildlife and plants around the world..
At Clovis, Thursday's audience was sparse but frank. They expressed disappointment that the property had lost value and rural livelihoods are at risk due to pollution.
New Mexico is among hundreds of plaintiffs in a multidistrict lawsuit in South Carolina federal court that seeks to hold manufacturers and users of PFAS-containing firefighting foam liable for contaminating sites across the country.
Beyond the legal front, some states have passed their own PFAS regulations, while Federal Rule Focus were narrowed. Just this week, New Mexico hosted a webinar on a new state law that calls for a phase-out and eventual ban on the sale of products containing intentionally added PFAS.
