Michigan’s Biggest Environmental Crisis in Decades.
Perhaps the Record Eagle article in September of last year announcing the presence of PFAS in 12 Blair Township wells was the first you heard of PFAS per and polyfluoroalkyl substances but it won’t be the last you hear. These once common, man made chemicals are now thought to contaminate more than 11,000 sites in Michigan of which Blair’s wells may be the least significant. This does not trivialize the problem in Blair. The plume of PFAS that affected these wells was attributed to a massive tire fire that burned for 23 days in 1995/96 and displaced over 100 families then, due to its noxious smoke. And that plume is likely to grow. But many of the 11,000 suspected sites show much more serious contamination.
There are literally thousands of chemicals which fall under the PFAS umbrella, many of them little-understood. But the ones with which regulators are familiar and frequently cited, PFOS & PFOA (perfluorooctanesulfonate and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid) have been linked to numerous ailments, including cancer; conditions affecting the liver, thyroid and pancreas; ulcerative colitis; cholesterol issues; hormone and immune system issues; pre-eclampsia in pregnant women, and negative effects on growth, learning and behavior in infants and children.
What complicates the situation is the fact that these chemicals are practically ubiquitous. They repel grease and water, so they could be used for a host of processes and consumer products, from wrapping paper for hamburgers to microwave popcorn bags, from nonstick cookware to carpet and upholstery stain guards, from waterproofing shoes and clothes to use in chrome plating industries and even dental floss. They are even used in aviation hydraulic fluids and, yes, fire-fighting foam – the very thing to which the toxic plume in Blair township has been attributed.
But the very qualities that made these chemicals so useful, also make them virtually impossible to break down in nature. PFAS can now be found in the blood of almost 99% of the population here in America and has even been found in polar bears in the Arctic Circle. And, once there, the body cannot eliminate it quickly. It has been found that, even if all exposure is removed, the body still retains fifty percent of the toxin after a period of five years.
It’s a problem; a problem not only for Blair, but for at least another 11,000 sites, and that makes Michigan a new poster-child for PFAS pollution, and along with Colorado, New York, Pennsylvania and North Carolina, one of the most heavily polluted states in the Union.
