Residents living in northern Kent County are being recruited to participate in a PFAS Exposure Assessment. The exposure assessment, conducted by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) and the Kent County Health Department (KCHD), will evaluate the relationship between drinking water contaminated with PFAS and the amount of PFAS in the body.  

The assessment is looking for residents that have a drinking water well within the North Kent County environmental investigation area. This area is being investigated by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) for PFAS. According to the MDHHS, this area was selected for the assessment because it has more wells exceeding the advisory level and has the highest levels of PFAS contamination than any other location in Michigan.

As part of the assessment, residents participating in the study will have blood samples analyzed for PFAS while also sharing information on their activities that may result in PFAS exposure. This is the first known study of its kind in Michigan.

The MDHHS and KCHD are hoping to get nearly 800 residents to participate in the assessment, 400 of which have well water that tested about the PFAS advisory limit of 70 ppt and another 400 that have well water that tested below the advisory limit.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the MDEQ, the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Agency for Toxic Substances Disease Registry will also be working with the MDHHS and KCHD for this assessment.

Merit is Michigan’s PFAS environmental laboratory, analyzing soil, wastewater, groundwater, drinking water, and other sample matrices at our laboratory in East Lansing, Michigan. Merit is certified for the analysis of PFAS by ISO/IEC 17025. Analytical method certification for PFAS includes drinking water by EPA 537 rev. 1.1 and wastewater, groundwater  and surface water by ASTM D7979 with Isotopic Dilution. Please contact Merit Laboratories for assistance on your PFAS testing needs.