U.S. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Susan Collins of Maine introduced legislation Thursday that would solicit experts to issue periodic health guidance and clinical recommendations on PFAS, a class of harmful, man-made chemicals.
PFAS – or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – are widely used in industrial and consumer products for their water- and stain-resistant properties. They are widespread throughout New Hampshire and have had acute impacts in the southern part of the state with contamination from Pease Air Force Base and French manufacturer Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics.
The bipartisan bill – by Shaheen, a Democrat, and Collins, a Republican – has been endorsed by several environmental organizations, according to Shaheen’s office, including the local groups Merrimack Citizens for Clean Water and Testing for Pease.
U.S. Reps. Dan Kildee, a Michigan Democrat, and Mike Lawler, a New York Republican, introduced a companion bill in the House in December.
“As we continue to learn about the health impacts caused by PFAS exposure, it’s critical that health care providers have the most up-to-date guidance so they can best care for their patients,” Shaheen said in a statement. “As we continue to address PFAS contamination in the Granite State, and across the country, this bipartisan legislation would take an important step toward keeping Americans healthy by requiring regular updates to clinician guidance.”
Laurene Allen, co-founder of Merrimack Citizens for Clean Water, said eight years ago communities surrounding Saint-Gobain learned they had an estimated 10 to 15 years of exposure to types of PFAS chemicals – “chemicals that were tasteless, odorless, and very disruptive to the endocrine system and every system in your body, basically,” she said.
“What was missing back then, which still we’re trying to get in place, is health guidance and physician guidance,” Allen said. “It’s been an ongoing challenge.”
Getting the State House to approve legislation that connects exposure to health outcomes has been difficult, she said.
“Bills over the years that have been on this particular topic have been defeated or sent to committee for further study,” she said, “and then they go nowhere.”
In January, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry updated clinical guidance on PFAS for the first time since 2019.
If this bill becomes law, it would give the agency director 60 days to enter into an agreement for the work to be conducted by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine or, if they decline, another appropriate entity.
Within two years, that entity would be required to complete an initial assessment and formulate recommendations on the health effects of PFAS that “can be measured in human tissues.” Those recommendations would be updated every five years or more frequently if determined necessary by the agency director “based on an assessment of the science.”
In crafting these assessments, the experts would be required to engage with and solicit feedback from “PFAS exposed communities” about their experiences with “exposure, testing, and clinical follow-up.”
Within five years of entering into the agreement, the experts would also have to “issue up-to-date clinical guidance on addressing the health effects of PFAS,” make that guidance available on the agency’s public website, and disseminate the guidance to state and local health authorities and relevant health care professionals. This would also have to be updated at least every five years.
Research has linked PFAS to a number of health problems: high cholesterol, weakened immune systems, decreased fertility, increased blood pressure in pregnant women, developmental problems in children, and prostate, kidney, and testicular cancers.
Almost all Americans have measurable amounts of PFAS in their blood, the agency has found. They have even been found in measurable amounts in newborns whose mothers have been exposed to the chemicals, a study led by Emory University found.
“If we don’t talk about health, and we don’t talk about the proper guidance that people need, we’re not supporting public health,” Allen said. “Environmental health is a significantly overlooked portion of public health.”