GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.-- It's going to take hundreds of people and over $1 million for officials with the Kent County Health Department and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to understand the exposure of PFAS to residents in northern Kent County communities.
Before officials in Kent County can understand exactly how PFAS are effecting the health of residents, they say they must first conduct an exposure assessment study.
"These are very difficult studies to do," says MDHHS chief medical executive Eden Wells.
An exposure assessment study is different than a health study. The purpose of the exposure assessment is to learn how the exposure to PFAS of residents in northern Kent County compares to average Americans.
“I think knowledge is power and this is an emerging contaminant, so the more that we can provide information for the community, because right now a lot of it is anecdotal," says Wells. "We have people whose wells have been high, people’s blood levels have been high and we need to capture all of that."
Participants will fill out a questionnaire and have a small amount of their blood drawn. Then, sanitarians will visit their home to sample their water. Results for each participant will take between two and four months to get back.
In the coming weeks, residents will be notified by letter if they have been chosen to participate in the study. Letters will continue to be sent out through spring of 2019. The criteria to participate requires residents to have lived in a home that has been tested for PFAS and have lived there since January 1, 2018 or earlier.
Department officials say there will be two groups of residents in the study: those whose homes have detected PFAS lower than the state limit of 70 parts per trillion and those who are above that limit.
Officials say they expect to have approximately 800 participants. The cost of each participant will be between $2,500 and $3,000, with the entire study costing over $1 million.
The money for this study was apportioned through the state by the Michigan Legislature.
The departments will be holding a community meeting on November 27 to discuss the study. It will take place at Northview High School at 6:30 p.m. Doors will open at 6 p.m.
