Posted on 02/04/25
| News Source: WBAL TV
Baltimore, MD - Feb. 4, 2025 - A first-of-its-kind study testing the blood of Maryland residents for toxic forever chemicals found every participant had it in their blood — with nearly all of them at risk for health problems due to their levels of PFAS contamination.
Johns Hopkins University and the Maryland Pesticide Education Network collaborated for the study, which was obtained by 11 News Investigates before its publishing date, testing 41 volunteers from across the state during the fall.
Dr. Ana Rule, assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, told 11 News Investigates that even with the study's small sample size, it's clear "that most people in Maryland have this in their blood."
The study's average result was 10.4. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) considers a value above a two as carrying potential health risks.
Extensive research has linked two types of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), PFOS and PFOA, to cancers, as well as damage to the kidneys and liver, pregnancy complications and other health problems.
| ALSO: The Environmental Protection Agency finalized limits on certain common types of PFAS chemicals in drinking water. Here's why, and what the new rule does.
Rule and her partners were especially interested in whether PFOS and PFOA showed up in people's blood.
For decades, the forever chemicals were used in manufacturing. PFOS and PFOA were ubiquitous in that they could be found in the air and the water, as well as in pots and pans. But even after one was outlawed in 2002 and the other in 2015, Rule said the chemicals persist in the world because they're nearly indestructible.
"I think we just didn't know the extent of the contamination," Rule told 11 News Investigates.
None of the study's volunteer participants had any reason to believe they had been exposed to the chemicals prior to the study, but 95% of the results showed high enough PFAS levels that medical screenings were recommended.
"I think we had someone who came in at like over (age) 42 or 43, something like that," said Sean Lynch, a project director at Maryland Pesticide Education Network. "There were a couple people who were in the 30s."
Bonnie Raindrop, MPEN's program director, saw the results coming back throughout the fall.
"I was alarmed," she told 11 News Investigates.
Raindrop decided to get her blood tested and received her results on New Year's Eve.
"I was concerned because the numbers were around 8. I need to learn more. I need to understand more about what that means," Raindrop told 11 News Investigates. "Of course, I'm very concerned because, last year, I was diagnosed with cancer. So, it has a very real impact for me."
Raindrop said she was left to wonder about her PFAS blood test and her cancer diagnosis — and whether one caused the other.
"I try to live a very healthy lifestyle: I try to eat clean, I try to limit my exposure to chemicals. But the fact is, is that we all live in a very toxic world — a beautiful world, but a toxic world," Raindrop told 11 News Investigates.