Last month, Merit Laboratories introduced you to the advisory report on the Scientific Evidence and Recommendations for Managing PFAS Contamination in Michigan. The report, authored by the Michigan PFAS Science Advisory Panel with support from state agency staff, provides a detailed look at Michigan’s PFAS contamination crisis. 

Michigan’s national leadership in PFAS exposure mitigation is in concert with recent scientific findings of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In a recent human study of U.S. residents, the CDC tested blood samples for a select number of PFAS (PFOS, PFOA, PFHxS, and PFNA). Blood test results showed that PFAS was present in almost every blood sample tested. According to the report, these test results may partly be attributed to the “long half-life within the human body for PFAS, averaging from 2.3 to 12 years based on the type of PFAS (ATSDR 2018)” and the historical usage of PFAS chemicals in the country.

One interesting portion of the advisory report highlights Michigan’s proactive approach to investigating and defining PFAS exposure. This approach has led to Michigan:

• Sampling all public water systems, including any system serving more than 25 people. This is the most extensive survey of drinking water ever done within the nation and will cover 75% of the residents in Michigan, with the remaining 25% using private wells;

• Sampling private wells when there is reason to believe the surrounding ground water may be contaminated with elevated levels of PFAS;

• Testing waste water treatment plant effluent to determine levels of PFAS discharging into rivers or surface waters and the corresponding need for action; 

• Testing industrial effluent, landfill leachate, and military base water runoff to ensure they are not discharging elevated levels of PFAS into rivers or other surface waters;

• Testing fish and deer to determine consumption guidance related to PFAS content; and,

• Testing biosolids (treated sewage sludge that is a beneficial resource, containing essential plant nutrients and organic matter as a fertilizer and soil amendment) which may be land applied for PFAS content.

Merit is one of the national leading PFAS environmental laboratories, analyzing soil, wastewater, groundwater, drinking water, and other sample matrices.  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 | surface water by ASTM D7979 with Isotopic Dilution. Please contact Merit Laboratories for assistance on your PFAS testing needs.