CDC Review Of 'Extensive Contamination' Of Your NJ Water

NEW JERSEY – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it's investigating now that New Jersey officials have declared that five companies are allegedly responsible for "extensive contamination" of drinking water at a number of sites across the state.

The CDC said its started a multi-site health study to investigate the relationship between drinking water contaminated with polyfluoroalkyl and perfluoroalkyl substances, collectively referred to as PFAS chemicals, in New Jersey and elsewhere (see list of New Jersey sites below).

The CDC awarded $1 million to Rutgers University, which will join six other institutions that will study the possible cancer-causing health effects of PFAS chemicals that, according to recent report from the state Department of Environmental Protection, were detected at at least 22 sites in New Jersey.

It's not known who may have been directly or indirectly impacted by the contamination. The Asbury Park Press recently reported that nearly one in five New Jerseyans are delivered tap water that contains at least trace amounts of a chemical linked to cancer and low birth weights.

The same study cited by The Press identified 29 large utilities that accumulated or accrued the most violation points between October 2014 to September 2017 in New Jersey. Read more: 5 Companies Did 'Extensive Contamination' Of Your NJ Water: DEP

The Department of Environmental Protection also reported in a 2014 study that two-thirds of New Jersey public water systems in 20 counties tested positive for the chemicals, noting that PFAS endures long after its use has ceased.

Those systems, and their locations, were:

• Atlantic City - Doughty Pond, Atlantic
• Atlantic City - Kuehnle Pond, Atlantic
• Ridgewood Water Department, Bergen
• Camden Water Department, Camden
• East Orange Water Commission, Morris
• NJ American Water - Short Hills, Essex
• Newark Water Department, Essex
• Paulsboro Water Department, Gloucester
• Bloomsbury Water Department, Hunterdon
• New Brunswick Water Department, Middlesex
• Perth Amboy Water Department, Middlesex
• 1225001 Middlesex Water Company, Middlesex
• NJ American Water - Coastal, Northern System, Monmouth
• Boonton Water Department, Morris
• Butler Water Department, Morris
• Southeast Morris County MUA, Morris
• Parsippany Troy Hills Water Department, Morris
• Brick Township MUA, Ocean
• West Milford MUA - Birch Hill, Passaic
• Bondie & Sons, Salem
• NJ American Elizabethtown - Raritan River, Somerset
• NJ American Elizabethtown - Netherwood Wellfield, Somerset

The directive issued requires the five companies – Solvay, DuPont, Dow DuPont, Chemours and 3M – to provide the DEP a detailed accounting of their use and discharge of PFAS chemicals in New Jersey.

Rep. Frank Pallone, D-NJ, also announced this past week that he's proposed legislation to address PFAS contamination and exposure, ensuring that polluters pay for the cleanup of these sites. He cited another report saying there are 517 water systems in New Jersey that have PFAS.

“PFAS are persistent, toxic chemicals that last forever and spread through our water, air and soil. New Jersey has some of the highest levels of PFAS contamination in the country," he said.

The substances have been linked to cancer and other health problems, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Some, but not all, studies in humans with 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
• Increase the risk of cancer

“There is much that is unknown about the health effects of exposures to these chemicals,” said Patrick Breysse, the director of the CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health. “The multi-site study will advance the scientific evidence on the human health effects of PFAS and provide some answers to communities exposed to the contaminated drinking water.”

The multi-site CDC study will recruit at least 2,000 children aged 4–17 years and 6,000 adults aged 18 years and older who were exposed to PFAS-contaminated drinking water. Participants and birth mothers of eligible children cannot have a history of work exposure to PFAS, according to the CDC.

PFAS chemicals are used in the manufacturing of plastics, some of which are used in nonstick cookware, stain-resistant coatings for upholstery, water-resistant breathable outdoor clothing and firefighting foams, according to the release.

They have been used to make brands such as Stainmaster, Scotchgard, Teflon, Gore-Tex and Tyvek. PFAS chemicals have been produced and used commercially and industrially for more than 60 years.

The chemicals can have dangerous effects when released into the air, land and water. Among the most well-studied PFAS chemicals are PFNA, PFOA, PFOS and GenX, a replacement for PFOA.

PFNA, PFOA and PFOS are discovered on a near-daily basis in New Jersey’s drinking water, groundwater, surface waters, sediments, soils, air, fish, plants and other natural resources, according to a DEP release.

They are cause for concern because none of the chemicals are naturally occurring; they do not break down in the environment; and research suggests they pose a variety of human health risks, even at low exposure, especially to developing fetuses and infants.

The multi-site health CDC study was authorized by the National Defense Authorization Acts of 2018 and 2019 to provide information to communities about the health effects of PFAS exposure. This is the first study to look at exposure to multiple PFAS at sites across the nation, the CDC said.

The information learned from the multi-site study will help all communities in the U.S. with PFAS drinking water exposures by allowing communities and governmental agencies to make better decisions about how to protect public health, according to the CDC.

The scientific evidence linking PFAS exposures with adverse health effects is increasing. Some studies in people have shown that exposure to certain PFAS might affect people’s health in the following ways:

• Adversely affect growth, learning, and behavior of infants and children
• Lower a woman’s chance of getting pregnant
• Interfere with the body’s natural hormones
• Increase cholesterol levels
• Affect the immune system
• Increase the risks for some cancers

The DEP directive, meanwhile requires the five companies to help provide information ranging from use and discharge of the chemicals through wastewater treatment plants, air emissions and sales of products containing the chemicals to current development, manufacture, use and release of newer chemicals in the state, according to a DEP release.

It also notifies the companies that the state will hold them financially responsible for the cost of remediation and treatment of PFAS-related contamination.

“The PFAS group of chemicals are ubiquitous in our environment and pose significant health risks to the public,” McCabe said. “In issuing this directive, we are putting these five companies on notice that many years of contaminating New Jersey’s precious drinking water and other natural resources will not go unchecked.