FEATURE
found to have higher levels of PFOS and
PFOA than California women, although
levels of these two legacy compounds are
decreasing.
Today, Wells serves on the Michigan PFAS
Action Response Team (MPART), the first
multi-agency, state PFAS working group
in the country. Launched in 2017 at the
behest of Governor Rick Snyder, MPART
has statehouse support and funding. One
indication of the group’s stature is its
initial leader, a former deputy attorney
general of Michigan.
One of team’s first actions was to convene
a scientific panel to advise the state
on response, mitigation and recovery
activities.
So far, the state has proactively tested
every public water utility in Michigan for
select PFAS. It is in the process of testing
drinking water from all schools, childcare
providers and Head Start programs using
well water, with results posted online.
After finding combined PFAS levels as
high as 1,828 ppt in treated drinking
water from the tiny town of Parchment
(population 3,174), officials acted swiftly,
directing the digging of a tunnel to service
Parchment with drinking water from
nearby Kalamazoo.
“We had a municipal water hook-up in
about a month’s time between when we
got the test results back and when there
was basically a permanent solution in
place,” said Wells. “The key is that a lot
of that came about because of MPART;
leadership could quickly grasp what
needed to be done.”
The MPART website includes a map
showing 36 sites under investigation for
PFAS contamination, including military
facilities, tanneries (which often apply
PFAS-containing Scotchguard TM to leather
goods), the site of a tanker spill, metal
plating facilities, a commercial laundry,
a Superfund site, landfills and other
locations. A separate webpage identifies
lakes and streams affected by PFAS.
Wells said authorities are also
investigating possible PFAS contamination
in deer and fish consumed in this
“hunting state,” and are considering
testing wild birds. Another concern,
she said, is waste that is converted
into biosolids and added to agricultural
fertilizers.
8
LAB MATTERS Winter 2019
Biomonitoring California laboratory staff analyze
samples for many different chemicals, including PFAS.
(from left to right): Qi Gavin, Josephine DeGuzman,
Yu-Chen Chang and Rana Zahedi. Photo: CA PHL
What we find, in every
study, is that just about every
person has been exposed to
PFAS. Regardless of where you
live or what kind of work you do,
everyone carries a body burden
of these persistent chemicals.”
California Department of Public Health
Half a continent away, California has been
focused on PFAS for over a decade via a
state biomonitoring program established
by law in 2006. Historically, the program
has received baseline state funding of
$2.2 million per year, supplemented in
most years with CDC funding ranging
from $1 million to $2.5 million. Individual
biomonitoring studies measure PFAS
in maternal and infant populations,
firefighters and Asian/Pacific Islanders.
And a separate statewide surveillance
project assesses the PFAS exposure of the
general California population.
According to CDPH, “What we find, in
every study, is that just about every person
has been exposed to PFAS. Regardless of
where you live or what kind of work you
do, everyone carries a body burden of
these persistent chemicals.”
More heavily exposed groups in the
California studies include firefighters—
found to have significantly elevated
levels of perfluorodecanoic acid relative
to NHANES adults—and Asians, found to
have higher levels of PFOS than Asians
in NHANES. Overall, California men were
As PFAS exposure routes become better
understood and the public health
response evolves, state laboratories
will continue to play a vital role. Andy
Gillespie, PhD, executive lead for EPA’s
PFAS research and development, said
laboratory testing to assess human
exposure “is key to understanding risk
and to understanding risk management
options,” such as carbon filtration or ion
exchange to remove the chemicals from
drinking water.
Gillespie expects LC/MS/MS testing
technology to become less costly
and more accessible over time, with
improved tools to support data analysis.
The laboratory response, he said,
must progress “not only in terms of
bandwidth—greater testing capacity—
but also pushing the science to more
advanced capability.”
Currently, Gillespie said, EPA is doing
considerable research into non-targeted
PFAS testing, using high-resolution mass
spectrometry (HRMS). Whereas targeted
analysis measures “maybe 18 to 24
analytes and that’s all the method can
see,” he said non-targeted analysis detects
“everything that’s in a sample,” followed
by “a lot of detective work . . . to figure
out what you’re seeing.” The technology
is mostly used in research laboratories
today.
Asked if he had any message for state
laboratories, Gillespie responded with
three. First, he said, “PFAS are likely to be
contaminants of concern for a long time
to come,” due to the persistence of legacy
compounds and the ongoing production
of new ones. Second, he said, “Increased
analytical capacity for analyzing samples
will be needed and welcome.” And lastly,
he encouraged scientists to follow HRMS
advances: “Follow that science and be
ready to move in that direction.” n
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