ALBANY — Tens of thousands of Newburgh residents have likely been drinking a toxic chemical for years, and possibly for decades, but there are no state or federal plans to conduct the sort of expansive outreach public health experts say is necessary to encourage local residents to get their blood levels checked to determine their level of health risk.
Public health experts say Newburgh residents, many of whom are probably not aware of the issue, need to be alerted to the fact that they have in their bloodstream a dangerous level of a chemical linked to cancer and other serious health problems. Thus far, the state’s outreach includes participating in “listening sessions” with local officials, mailing information on exposure to the chemical, PFOS, to local physicians, participating in two public forums in Newburgh and weekly calls with city officials, a Department of Health spokesman said.
The outreach does not include a broader education campaign to let the city’s residents know that they have been consuming a toxic chemical for an extended period of time. Of a city of 30,000, just 300 people have signed up for blood monitoring, according to state figures.
In May, Newburgh’s main water source, Lake Washington, tested at more than 140 parts per trillion for Perfluorooctane sulfonate, or PFOS, which is about twice the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s recommended safety limit of 70 parts per trillion. The state has paid for the installation of a filter on the city’s water supply and switched the municipal supply to an alternate source months ago.
The city’s water supply, Lake Washington, is near the Stewart Air National Guard Base in Orange County, which the state Department of Environmental Conservation declared a Superfund site because it is likely the source of the pollution.
After months of pressure, the Cuomo administration recently released a carefully worded announcement about the beginning of a blood testing program in Newburgh. On its face, it appears to announce a major new public health initiative after months of pressure. The state is conducting what it refers to as a “comprehensive biomonitoring program.” It aims to “ensure participation from a cross-section of Newburgh residents.”
If the numbers of people tested become too significant, the administration will call on the federal government for help, state officials say.
But that’s very different from conducting the type of public outreach that can help residents address the health challenges they face, Newburgh city manager Michael Ciaravino said. He said he wants widespread blood testing made available as well as a campaign to let people know the importance of checking their blood levels. Local residents are concerned the state is not conducting a more aggressive response because of what it may find.
“I’m not sure what would hold it up other than the concerns about what may be discovered and that’s really, from a community standpoint, where the trust is breaking down,” he said. “They are very concerned that at the end of the day this isn’t being done in a more comprehensive manner because they are afraid of the data and they are afraid of what it is going to yield.”
The response in Newburgh was crafted in consultation with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and will serve as a national model for understanding PFOS exposure, state Department of Health spokesman James Plastiras said.
“NYSDOH is working with federal partners, local leaders and community groups to conduct coordinated outreach and ensure our comprehensive biomonitoring program has participation from a statistically significant cross-section of Newburgh residents,” he said in a statement. “DOH plans to provide sampling to all interested Newburgh residents. In the event DOH encounters capacity issues due to the size of the population, the state will ask federal partners for both technical and financial assistance.”
Like the similar chemical PFOA, or perfluorooctanoic acid, PFOS can stay in the bloodstream for years. A growing body of scientific research has linked it to liver and kidney problems as well as immune system issues.
Newburgh has a significant population of non-native speakers of English, who may not understand any warnings. It also has higher education institutions, where students who may have been exposed years ago have since moved away.
It’s essential to conduct an advertising or education campaign as part of the community outreach so people at risk know about the dangers of having PFOS in their blood, said Dr. Howard Freed, a former director of the state health department’s Center for Environmental Health. Freed has been critical of the state health department for having a culture of downplaying health risks when the situation warrants greater public alarm.
“If you say, 'well we’ll do it, but we’re not going to tell anyone or we’re not going to advertise,' that’s kind of like not doing it,” he said. “I don’t see that as a good faith effort to find the people who are contaminated.”
It is important that people have a sense of their exposure when it is highest so that they begin monitoring their health and that of their children for any changes, said Laurel Schaider, an environmental chemist and public health researcher at the Silent Springs Institute, which studies the links between environmental contamination and human health.
She said it is also helpful to measure people’s blood levels around the time exposures are highest because it allows for future studies of health effects.
“Things like liver or kidney cancer might take many years to develop so we’re thinking about long-term health effects and it’s useful to have a measure of exposure back around the time when people were most exposed to contaminated drinking water rather than many years later trying to look back in time and figure out who was most affected,” she said.
Local doctors in Newburgh have told patients they do not have any information on the significance of their exposure, according to Ciaravino, the city manager. A few families who lost their children to cancer in recent years have come forward. Some residents of the mostly minority and low-income city have pointed to Hoosick Falls, where extensive testing has been offered, and wondered if Newburgh was being treated differently, he said.
He requested an outreach program to help doctors understand the implications of the chemical. He also said he believes many residents have no idea that they were drinking tainted water and that a door-to-door educational campaign was the best way to warn them that their health could be at serious reach.
“Not only do the physicians need an outreach program, the individuals and families who have been exposed ... need a clear explanation from your Department of what is known and what is not known about the health risks of the exposure,” he wrote in a recent letter to the state Department of Health.
Health officials have tried to counter Ciarvino’s efforts, he said. Since that letter was sent, Ciaravino said his office had a “testy exchange” with state health department officials who have disputed his claims that they weren’t doing enough to help Newburgh residents.