223: New PFAS Water Quality Advisories

ROBERT JOHNSON:

This is Public Health Review Morning Edition for Wednesday, July 20th, 2022. I'm Robert Johnson.

Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

BRUNO PIGOTT:

Last month, the EPA announced a drinking water advisory for several PFAS, which are also known as forever chemicals because they're widely used and extremely persistent in the environment. Why? Because they break down very slowly.

JOHNSON:

That's Bruno Pigott with the EPA. He's calling attention to new drinking water guidance that considers exposure to PFAS chemicals from all sources like food, air, and consumer products.

PIGOTT:

The four health advisories we released are lifetime health advisories. They identify levels to protect all people, including sensitive populations, and life stages from adverse health effects resulting from a lifetime of exposure to these PFAS in our drinking water.

JOHNSON:

Pigott says it was time for the guidelines to reflect the latest science.

PIGOTT:

We updated our 2016 health advisories for the chemicals PFAS and PFOS because our extensive review of the new science indicates that a lifetime of exposure to PFOA and PFOS above these levels may result in negative health effects. These actions are in line with the PFAS strategic roadmap that EPA has laid out, which has guiding our efforts to better restrict research and remediate PFOS using a whole-of-government approach.

JOHNSON:

Pigott wants public health leaders to take the time to understand the changes to the guidelines and share them with people in their jurisdictions.

PIGOTT:

First of all, we believe it's important for public health professionals to be read in on and understand the latest science regarding these chemicals. These health advisories are bringing increased public awareness as well to PFAS, their prevalence, and their potential health impacts. If community members or people in your care contact you because they're concerned about health impacts, we have a lot of information on our website that will help public health professionals understand the advisory levels so that they can better advise their patients.

JOHNSON:

You can review the new guidelines using the link in the show notes.

Massachusetts is dealing with a steep increase in opioid-related overdose deaths. Public health commissioner Margret Cooke says the rate jumped almost 9% last year over cases reported in 2020.

MARGRET COOKE:

We've really tried to step up our overdose prevention and harm reduction efforts. But our biggest takeaway from this latest report is that actually we need to continue to do everything we're doing, and more so a really comprehensive array of efforts in place, which include things like syringe service programs, overdose education, and naloxone distribution. We have post-overdose support teams, and we've made a significant investment in low threshold housing programs.

JOHNSON:

The state proposes to spend more than a half billion dollars on harm reduction treatment and recovery programs in fiscal year 2023. Read more about the state's plan using the link in the show notes.

Also this morning, ASTHO has job openings for people interested in a career in public health. The organization wants to hire a senior analyst and an analyst on its grants team. There's also an opening for a senior analyst of public health data modernization and informatics. Visit the ASTHO careers webpage using the link in the show notes.

Finally today, ASTHO's Health Equity Summit 2022 is next Wednesday, July 27th. Learn more about the program and sign up using the link in the show notes.

That'll do it for today's newscast. We're back tomorrow morning with more ASTHO news and information.

I'm Robert Johnson. You're listening to Public Health Review Morning Edition. Have a great day.