FAIRFIELD, Maine — Toxicologists who monitor PFAS chemicals say high levels of exposure could undermine Covid-19 vaccines rolling out across the country.
"What we know about these chemicals, we know that they do suppress the immune the system," Dr. Linda Birnbaum, the retired director of the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, said.
The compounds—which have been used for decades—are in many household products including furniture, carpet, and food packaging.
Linked to organ cancers and reproductive problems, the chemicals may also limit the immune system's ability to make virus-fighting antibodies after getting a shot.
This fall, nearly two dozen homeowners in the town of Fairfield, Maine were advised to used bottled water after tests revealed very high amounts of the compounds.
The possible source of the contamination: biosolids used as fertilizer on farm land for decades. Birnbaum says the coronavirus vaccine's two-shot protocol may not be enough protection for people living in contaminated areas.
"Instead of getting that one booster that's now required with the two mRNA vaccines that maybe you would need a third booster," Birnbaum said.
The U.S. CDC's Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry is currently studying the intersection between PFAS and the virus, in an effort to find out if exposure reduces vaccine protection. That research is being included in PFAS health investigations taking place in eight states across the U.S.
It's a big worry for Andrea Amico, who's husband and two young children, including her daughter Sophia, drank water laced with PFAS at the Pease Trade Port, in Portsmouth, N.H.
Federal health officials are currently registering adults and children exposed to PFAS at the former base for a health study. But it was too late in the process to include the Pease Community.
"As we all sit here and wait patiently for a COVID-19 vaccine that is going to help us in this pandemic, people who have been impacted by PFAS exposure wonder will the vaccine be effective for them," Amico said.