PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — Enrollment is underway for a first-in-the-nation health study on PFAS exposure in drinking water at the former Pease Air Force base. The CDC study will focus on one-thousand adults and three hundred and fifty children who drank water contaminated with the chemicals while working or attending school or daycare at Pease between January of 2004 and May of 2014.
Participants will provide blood and urine samples. Researchers will also look for health issues previously connected to the so-called 'forever chemicals' in lab studies. That includes organ cancers, immune system issues, asthma and fertility problems. The study which will be completed in about three years could provide more definitive answers about PFAS exposure and educate health providers everywhere.
'The research is important not just for our study, but all the research being done because we are still in the early stages of understanding of what exposures could cause,' said Dr. Frank Bove, Senior Epidemiologist at the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
The study is focusing on the exposure in drinking water only.
Separate studies could be conducted in the future on firefighters and veterans who were exposed to the chemicals at Pease while on the job.
To enroll in the Pease Study, you can call (603) 846-6192.
For information about the study and the Pease community you may click here
Information on the criteria and eligibility for the National PFAS health impact study click here