Gathering on Groundwater Contamination Plumes in Fairbanks November - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Presentation for the Community Gathering on Groundwater Contamination Plumes in Fairbanks November 27, 2017 Pamela Miller, Executive Director Alaska Community Action on Toxics pamela@akaction.org www.akaction.org

 ACAT believes everyone has the right to clean air, clean water, and toxic-free food.  Our goal is to protect Alaskans’ health and environment by eliminating exposures to toxic chemicals.  Our methods include: • Science • Education • Advocacy and community organizing • Policy change

 Community-based participatory research — field and community health investigations  Respond to community calls for assistance  GIS computer mapping  Environmental health education  Environmental justice and human rights workshops  Alaska Collaborative on Health and Environment (AK-CHE)  Achieve policy change on local, national and international levels

700 active and abandoned military sites in Alaska — Many co-located with Alaska Native villages Norton Sound

Global Transport of Persistent Chemicals into the Arctic/North

Our chemical environment  Over 85,000 chemicals in commerce — thousands of these are endocrine-disrupting chemicals  Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 (TSCA) — ineffective and out of date. Required testing of just over 200 of those chemicals and it regulated only five  TSCA amended and signed by the President July 2016 – Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21 st Century Act  Language to protect vulnerable populations, however still no functioning program for the regulation of endocrine-disrupting chemicals

Highly fluorinated chemicals or PFAS Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances What makes this class of chemicals unique?  Persistence C-F bond is very strong  Complexity  Versatility Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) or C8

Nomenclature-- Per- and Poly-Fluorinated Chemicals  Per = fully fluorinated (PFOS — perfluorooctane sulfonic acid)  Poly = partly fluorinated (8:2 FtS Fluorotelomer sulfonate)

Widely used in products  Carpets and upholstery  Waterproof fabrics  Waxes (floor, skis)  Non-stick cookware  Paints and coatings  Food packaging  Personal care products  Dental floss  Electronics — semiconductors  Metal plating

PFOS and PFOA in consumer products PFOS - Perfluorooctane Sulfonate PFOA - Perfluorooctanoic acid PFHxS -Perfluorohexane sulfonate 6:2 FtS - fluorotelomer sulphonate Large group of fluorinated compounds (PFAs/PFCs) • industrial uses eg metal plating, semiconductors, coatings • consumer products eg Teflon, Scotchguard • AFFF firefighting foams: fluorosurfactants / fluorotelomers Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) • PFOS listed with some exemptions to be phased out • PFOA currently being assessed • PFHxS nominated and found to meet criteria

PFOS and PFOA are POPs! POPs / persistent organic pollutants • 4 characteristics Persistent : PFOS & PFOA don’t breakdown Transboundary : travel by air, water & wildlife • ‘poisons without passports’ Bioaccumulative : build up in our bodies • passed from mother to child in utero & via breastmilk Toxic Exposure via water, food & dust

The Language of the Stockholm Convention  “Aware of the health concerns…in particular impacts upon women and children and, through them, upon future generations.”  “Conscious of the need for global action …”  “Acknowledging that precaution underlies the concerns of all the Parties and is embedded within this Convention…”  “Determined to protect human health and the environment…”  “Acknowledging that the Arctic ecosystems and Indigenous communities are particularly at risk.. .”

Sources of Drinking Water Contamination  AFFF (aqueous film-forming foam) for fuel fires  Production facilities  Waste disposal sites  Wastewater  Other industries

Watersheds with point sources have higher detection frequencies for PFAs Drinking water supplies for 6 million U.S. residents exceed US EPA’s lifetime health advisory (70 ng/L) for PFOS and PFOA. Reference: Hu et al . 2016 ES&T Letters 3:344-350.

Patrick Breysse, Director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) National Center for Environmental Health, described the highly fluorinated chemicals in firefighting foam as “ one of the most seminal public health challenge for the next decades .” Breysse estimated 10 million Americans are currently drinking contaminated water. He said “soon we think that hundreds of millions of Americans will be drinking water with levels of these chemicals above levels of concern .”

NJ DWQI 2016 Increases in serum PFOA concentrations predicted from mean and upper percentile consumption of drinking water with various concentrations of PFOA, as compared to U.S median and 95th percentile serum PFOA levels (NHANES, 2011-12).

Mixture of PFAS in AFFF Jakobsson (2015) Copenhagen Workshop

Discovery of 40 Classes of PFAS in AFFF and AFFF-impacted groundwater  “ Little is known about the newly discovered PFASs with regards to subsurface remediation strategies, transport, and toxicity. The (presumed) wide range of solubilities for the newly discovered PFASs may pose challenges for using ex situ remediation techniques, such as granulated active carbon, because shorter-chained compounds are likely to break through systems designed to capture PFOS and PFOA .” Higgens et al. (2017) ES&T Letters

A chronology… 1938 created by 3M 2005 Sweden proposes global ban on • 1949 Teflon non stick PFOS • 1956 Scotchguard fabric 2006 Canada & EU announce PFOS ban treatment • US & EU Co’s commit to PFOA 1962 Dupont Internal health report ban by 2015 (China & Asia ramp 1968 PFOS in human blood up production) 1980s US drinking water 2009 PFOS listed in Stockholm Convention contamination 2013 Europe Union severely restricts 1987 PFOA cancer in rats study PFOA 2000 OECD PFOS ‘cause for 2014 Norway bans PFOA concern’ 2015 US woman wins $1.6 million • US EPA bans PFOS with compensation from Dupont for kidney exemptions cancer • 3M announces end PFOS • EU nominates PFOA to production Stockholm Convention 2003 NICNAS rec. discontinue 2016 US man wins $5.1 million for PFOS foams testicular cancer 2004 found in 100% umbilical cord blood

are there safe levels…..which safe level…? USEPA Health Advisories 2016 • reduce drinking water levels 3-5 fold to combined 70 ppt for PFOS and PFOA Grandjean & Clapp 2015 - 1 ppt PFOA ‘ State Level Drinking Water Guidelines: • Alaska — 400 ppt • New Jersey — now 14 ppt MCL PFOA and considering 13 ppt PFNA • Vermont — 20 ppt • Minnesota — formerly 300 ppt; In 2017 => reduced to 35 ppt PFOA 27 ppt PFOS • New York and West Virginia — 70 ppt

E vidence of harm… Animal studies PFOS : reproductive & developmental toxicity, neurotoxicity, immunotoxicity, thyroid & liver cancer PFOA : liver & kidney toxicity, developmental toxicity, liver, testicular & pancreatic cancer, increase in obesity in offspring of exposed mice ‘Developing fetus is particularly sensitive to PFOS & PFOA toxicity’

Evidence of adverse human health effects ‘Human epidemiology data report associations between PFOS exposure & high cholesterol, thyroid disease, immune suppression & some reproductive & developmental parameters, including reduced fertility... Some human studies ‘ suggest an association with bladder, colon & prostate cancer. ’ (US EPA 2016) ‘ …report associations between PFOA exposure & high cholesterol, increased liver enzymes, decreased vaccination response, thyroid disorders, pregnancy-induced hypertension & preeclampsia, & cancer (testicular & kidney) . ’ (US EPA 2016) PFC Mixtures • endocrine /hormone disruption, thyroid disease, immunotoxicity, obesity at current levels

‘So what does the rest of the world think…??’ U.N. POPs Review Expert Committee concludes : ‘PFOS and PFOA are likely, as a result of long range environmental transport, to lead to ‘ significant adverse human health & environmental effects’ ‘ PFOA epidemiological evidence for kidney & testicular cancer, disruption of thyroid function and endocrine disruption in women ’ International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classifies PFOA “possibly carcinogenic to humans” (Group 2B) EU classifies PFOA carcinogenic & toxic to reproduction • ‘ May damage the unborn child ’

Neurodevelopmental  Higher serum PFAS concentrations were associated with parent-reported behavioral problems:  Hyperactivity, peer relationship, and conduct problems  Internalizing and externalizing problems  Autism screening composite scores  Related to post-natal, but not prenatal, exposure  Adverse effects in girls and null or positive effects in boys Oulhote et al. Environ Int (2016) Adapted from Carignan 2017