In The News

A bipartisan PFAS Task Force was launched Wednesday, Jan. 23, in the U.S. House by Reps. Dan Kildee (D-Flint Township) and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania to better protect the public from per-fluorinated and poly-fluorinated chemicals.

U.S. Reps. Bill Huizenga (R-Zeeland) and Fred Upton (R-St. Joseph) are founding members of the task force.

“We have seen several communities in West Michigan, along the Grand River, including Robinson Elementary School in Ottawa County, that have tested positive for PFAS at levels that are unsafe,” Huizenga said.

“We are concerned that this is just the tip of the iceberg. At the end of the day, residents deserve to know the truth and the full picture about the health risks as well as the sources associated with PFAS and PFOAS.”

Initial test results for Robinson Elementary received by the DEQ in October found combined perfluorooctanoic acid, PFOA, and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid, PFOS, levels of 110 parts per trillion, which is above the EPA health advisory level of 70 parts per trillion. Total PFAS levels for the school were measured at 144 parts per trillion.

PFAS, PFOA and 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.

According to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, which is a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, studies in humans with PFAS exposure have shown that certain PFAS may affect growth, learning, and behavior of infants and older children, lower a woman’s chance of getting pregnant, interfere with the body’s natural hormones, increase cholesterol levels, affect the immune system, and increase the risk of cancer.

Goals of the task force include:

Educating members of Congress to increase awareness of PFAS.

Crafting legislation to address PFAS.

Meeting with committees and congressional leadership to ensure PFAS is adequately and more urgently addressed.

Fight for more robust funding to clean up PFAS contamination.

Huizenga said he supports research including local work being conducted at Michigan State University by Cory Rusinek, who is developing a way to treat gallons of PFAS-contaminated water in a lab.

“These are the types of steps that need to be taken,” Huizenga said. “We do know that more research needs to be done. There hasn’t been enough research done on whether 70 parts per trillion is the right number or as we suspect, it needs to be much lower. I look forward to working on this with my colleagues.”


This article appeared in the Holland Sentinel on January 27th