November 11, 2020
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) were detected in some residential and public water
wells near the former Reese Air Force Base in Lubbock County. In February 2020,
the Agency
for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) conducted
a study to find out if these chemicals found in water are also in resident’s
bodies. ATSDR released individual results to residents on November 4, 2020 and will
publish a fact sheet with aggregate results on November 18, 2020.
Background:
PFAS are a group of
chemicals widely used to make fluoropolymer coatings and products that resist
heat, oil, stains, grease, and water. They do not break down easily and
can bioaccumulate in the environment and people.
PFAS exposure may be associated with increased risk of
some adverse effects on human health and may include:
- Increased
cholesterol levels
- Impaired
hormonal and immune systems
- Decreased
vaccine response in children
- Changes
in liver enzymes (high uric acid)
- Increased
risk of high blood pressure or pre-eclampsia in pregnant women
- Decreases
in infant birth weights and preterm birth
- Increased
risk of kidney or testicular cancer
However, these types of health problems can be caused by
many different factors including lifestyle, environmental, social, and genetic,
and it is difficult to know if PFAS exposure has caused health problems or made
them worse. Additionally, the symptoms associated with exposure to PFAS are
often non-specific and pose difficulties for diagnosis. More research is needed
to better understand health risks associated with PFAS exposure.
Exposure Assessment:
Scientists collected and analyzed blood and
urine samples from community members that may have been exposed to PFAS in their
drinking water. The sampling is part of a national investigation into PFAS
exposure in communities with PFAS in their drinking water.
The
Air Force previously used a type of firefighting foam containing PFAS, which
seeped into groundwater beneath Reese AFB and the surrounding area. An earlier
survey from 2017-2019 identified residential wells that had been contaminated
with PFAS. While the Air Force no longer uses that kind of foam, the
contamination can persist for up to 15 years in groundwater, and contaminated
wells with PFAS levels above state or federal drinking water advisory levels
were provided with filtration systems and bottled water to reduce exposure.
Information for Clinicians:
Scientific understanding of the
effects of PFAS exposure is still developing. Care of a patient exposed to PFAS
should be based on the patient’s overall risk factors, exposure, family
history, signs and symptoms of illness, and a physical examination. The
recommendation is to provide standard medical care for any conditions present. There currently is not
an established PFAS screening blood or urine level at which a health effect is
known to occur nor is there a level that correlates with or predicts particular
health effects.
Asymptomatic patients
For asymptomatic individuals exposed to PFAS,
there is no indication to deviate from established standards of medical care.
The clinician should use clinical judgement to care for individual patients as
usual.
Symptomatic patients
For patients with signs or symptoms of
disease, clinicians should treat these patients using the standards of care
they would use for a patient who did not have a known PFAS exposure.
For patients with
elevated PFAS serum or urine levels or who have concerns about PFAS exposure, clinicians
should help the patient with ways to identify and reduce exposure sources while
promoting standard age appropriate preventive care measures for general health
and wellness (i.e., Bright Futures 19
https://brightfutures.aap.org/Pages/default.aspx and Clinical
Preventive Services Guidelines20 https://brightfutures.aap.org/Pages/default.aspx).
Recommendations
to the Public:
There are no medical interventions that will remove PFAS
from the human body, but identifying sources of PFAS and preventing known
exposures may help lower risks. To reduce exposure to PFAS, residents with PFAS-contaminated
water wells should:
- Filter
their water before use with a functioning filtration system or use an
alternative water source for drinking, food preparation, cooking, brushing
teeth or any activity that might result in ingestion of water.
- Filtration systems should be maintained and
sampled routinely.
For
questions:
For medically related questions please contact: Pediatric
Environmental Health Specialty Unit (PEHSU) at 888-901-5665 or the Texas Poison
Center Network at 1-800-222-1222
If you have any questions about the exposure assessment, please contact,
ATSDR Region 6, at 214-577-3506 or pay9@cdc.gov
If you have questions about water filtration systems, please contact the
Air Force at Reese Center, at 210-834-2353 or paul.carroll.1@us.af.mil; and (866) 725-7617; afimsc.pa.workflow@us.af.mil
For More Information:
Information on ATSDR’s Exposure Assessment: https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/pfas/activities/assessments.html
Information on the PFAS in Groundwater at the Lubbock Reese Air Force
Base: https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/pfas/activities/assessments/sites/lubbock-county-tx.html
Information about health effects associated with PFAS: https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/pfas/health-effects/index.html
Information for clinicians on PFAS: https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/pfas/resources/clinical-guidance.html