WESTFIELD — A grassroots nonprofit leading an effort to inform city residents about the presence of PFAS in the Barnes Aquifer and its impacts will receive $20,000 in state technical assistance to collect health data from residents about exposure. obtained a subsidy.
“This TAG allows us to achieve another step on a very long path toward healing and recovery…and we are extremely grateful for this funding,” Westfield Residents Advocating for Themselves Inc. Kristen Mello, a founding member of . from the state Department of Environmental Protection, spoke about the grant.
According to a DEP press release, the grant is intended to encourage public participation in community waste site assessment and cleanup efforts.
Melo said the grant will be used to pay for the technical services of two PFAS researchers, including a professor of biomedical and nutritional sciences at the Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences at Massachusetts Lowell, who is involved in research and They include Dimitter Bello, who is also associate dean for graduate studies.
PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are long-lasting man-made chemicals used in several consumer and industrial products. Once PFAS enters the body, the contamination remains for years or decades.
PFAS are found in several sources, including stain-resistant carpets and water-resistant clothing, cosmetics, nonstick cookware, and food packaging, as well as produce, fish, and meat from places where water is contaminated with PFAS. It contains. A spill from firefighting foam used at Barnes Air National Guard Base is believed to have increased PFAS levels in groundwater on Westfield's Northside and contaminated public water wells.
In WRAFT's grant application, Bello wrote that the team from the University of Massachusetts Lowell would support the Westfield nonprofit with technical expertise and resources.
“Our activities will be well-coordinated to support WRAFT’s needs, including supporting public participation in education… [and] technical guidance, health research development analysis…and assistance in carrying out the work proposed by WRAFT,” Bello wrote in the application included in WRAFT’s grant application.
Mello said he and his technical team will work in the coming months on a survey of city residents exposed to PFAS to collect health data using social media, occasional meetings and email.
PFAS are endocrine disruptors that interfere with the action of hormones in the body and are linked to cancers of the liver, thyroid, bladder and kidneys, she explained, adding: “We want to document the various health effects in people who are exposed.'' I think so.”
When applying for the grant, WRAFT outlined what they wanted to achieve.
“There is an urgent need to document concerns raised by residents about their health. It aims to provide valuable insight into the nature of contamination and exposure, even though it has already occurred. [and is ongoing]the information collected will guide future population and public health efforts,” the grant application states.
To achieve that goal, the technical assistance team will work with community members who are not familiar with the Toxic Substances and Disease Registry and Exposure Assessment Agency and who are concerned about their health, according to the application.
The team will help residents learn how to read and interpret water quality data reports, ATSDR reports, how state DEP and other health risk assessments are conducted, how drinking water standards for PFAS are derived, and the toxicity and epidemiology of PFAS. , and help you learn safety recommendations. Reduce your current exposure to these toxic chemicals.
The team conducted a survey to collect health information through questionnaires from individuals who may have been affected by PFAS contamination in Westfield, analyzed the reported health outcomes, and transferred the results to north Westfield. We will compare the health results reported by other scientific groups for the population living there. Westfield River residents included in the ATSDR sampling frame and those living south of the river not included.
“We are extremely grateful for the continued support of state and federal legislators and their staff and will continue to work to provide much-needed resources to PFAS-contaminated communities.” We will continue to work with them,” Mello said.
