State hosts PFAS informational meeting for GT Band; 'forever chemicals' associated with health problems

May 27—PESHAWBESTOWN — Tribal citizens from northwest Lower Michigan asked about water filtration, vaccination studies and impacts to surface water during an online webinar about PFAS chemicals and associated contamination.

The Michigan PFAS Action Response Team hosted a webinar for the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians on Tuesday night. The session covered the history of the agency's creation and tracking of PFAS contamination probes, and efforts to protect public health through water, fish and wildlife consumption warnings.

"I think that the questions were good and that's a sign of the community being more aware and even doing their own research," said Carolan Sonderegger, the tribe's Natural Resources Department manager.

MPART Executive Director Abigail Hendershott explained how PFAS chemicals get into the environment, resist breakdown and accumulate in bodies, leading to heightened risk of an array of health problems.

She also said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has only established a lifetime advisory level for PFAS chemicals, not maximum contaminant levels, so state officials set standards for Michigan. Those thresholds apply to public drinking water systems, surface water bodies and groundwater, and can trigger investigations and eventual cleanup when surpassed, Hendershott said.

The agency chief said a frequent cause of PFAS contamination that has made its way into water supplies and subsequently the households of Michiganders is aqueous film forming foam or AFFF, which is the most effective substance used to extinguish liquid-fuel fires like those at airports which involve jet fuel. Those PFAS chemicals are useful for that reason, and also problematic for the environment, she said.

"Every time we use it we end up causing more groundwater contamination," Hendershott told the webinar participants.

She explained how all three of Grand Traverse County's designated PFAS investigation sites are connected to past AFFF use, including the 1990s fire site at the old Carl's Retreading in Blair Township and both the airport and Coast Guard air station in Traverse City.

Hendershott also talked about local surface water probes: samples collected from both arms of Grand Traverse Bay in 2019 showed PFOS levels between 2 parts per trillion and 3.5 ppt in West Bay, and between 1.9 ppt and 3.8 ppt in East Bay. Those levels are "pretty representative" of what environmental regulators find in other water bodies, she said.

Hendershott said regulators don't often see big fluctuations in PFAS concentrations in large water bodies like Grand Traverse Bay, but instead observe that in smaller water bodies near known pollution sources.

Marcus Wasilevich, PFAS response coordinator for the state Department of Health and Human Services, talked about the health risks to humans associated with exposure to the toxic pollutants.

He said studies have associated these "forever chemicals" — which are known to build up in bodies and resist breakdown — with certain health problems, including fertility complications, increased blood pressure and cholesterol, heightened risk of cancer and damage to organs such as the liver and thyroid.

Wasilevich said an area of burgeoning PFAS research is how and to what degree plants absorb the contaminants. State officials collected some data last year from some backyard gardens known to have been watered with PFAS-tainted water, he said.

Some plants seem to store PFAS in fruit, while others store it in leaves or roots. How contaminated plants affect those who consume them so far remains a mystery, Wasilevich said.

"I wish I could tell you what the risk is," he said. "The answer is we don't know yet."

State officials said 20 participants logged on to the Zoom session.

Before the session ended, Hendershott said she would love to have a tribal citizen join MPART's Citizen Advisory Workgroup, as there are not yet any Indigenous representatives on that board, which is tasked with advising state officials on engaging and collaborating with communities impacted by PFAS pollution.

PFAS is an acronym for thousands of manmade chemicals, perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances such as PFOA and PFOS, which have been manufactured since the late 1940s. Special properties of the chemicals made them useful in a vast array of commercial and household products: Teflon pots and pans, stain-proof furniture and carpeting, waterproof clothing and outdoor gear, and more.