This is a big deal

National Academies advises testing our blood for PFAS contamination, tracking health impacts

US government health agencies need to move quickly to launch broad testing of people exposed to types of toxic chemicals known as PFAS to help evaluate and treat people who may suffer PFAS-related health problems, according to a report issued today by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM).

The report recommends that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advise clinicians to offer PFAS blood testing to their patients who are likely to have a history of elevated exposure to the toxins.

People found with PFAS in their blood at levels higher than 20 ng/ml potentially face a higher risk of serious problems, the report states.

“Our report shows that we are going to need robust and effective collaboration between local communities, states, and federal agencies in order to respond to the challenge of PFAS exposure,” Ned Calonge, chair of the NASEM committee that authored the report, said in a statement.

The report released today is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Lawyer Rob Bilott, who helped expose the dangers of PFAS contamination through litigation, applauded the report, saying it “reaffirms and amplifies the warning I have been trying to get out to the public and health officials for decades as to the unprecedented scope and scale of the public health threat” posed by PFAS.

“If you look at the human blood levels of concern identified in this new report, it becomes clear that a massive portion of our entire population is already at risk from exposure to these toxins and that steps should be taken now to address this ongoing public health threat,” Bilott said in a statement.

See the rest of the story at The New Lede.