The Nexus Between Public Health and Community Exposure Concerns

Full title: The Nexus Between Public Health and Community Exposure Concerns: listening, hearing, understanding, and acting

Presented on April 27, 2022, by Mindi Messmer - NH Science and Public Health - at the 2022 Emerging Contaminants in the Environment Conference (ECEC22)

In five southern NH towns, drinking water was impacted by perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) emissions from Saint Gobain Performance Plastics located in Merrimack, NH. Stack emission testing conducted by EPA identified 190 PFAS substances in the samples; 101 PFAS were novel. Merrimack residents were not satisfied with a previous analysis of cancer incidences and pushed for further investigation.

Our ecological study concluded that Merrimack residents experienced significantly higher incidences of several cancers compared to US incidence rates and demographically similar New England towns with no documented PFAS contamination in the water supply.

Our work highlights the need for carefully selecting comparator groups, so the public health impact of PFAS exposure is adequately characterized. In addition, it is imperative, moving forward, to listen to communities impacted by environmental exposure to chemical mixtures and construct studies that are responsive to their concerns.

Download slides: http://hdl.handle.net/2142/114129