Colorado Springs Water Supply Contaminated by Firefighting Chemical at Nearby Military Base
By Brandon Turbeville, Natural Blaze
Toxic chemicals have polluted the water for people in Colorado Springs for years, going all the way back to the 1950s. Finally, in 2017, researchers are beginning to take a greater look at the levels to which the water in Colorado Springs has been contaminated and the possible consequences of that pollution.
Researchers at the Colorado School of Public Health at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and the Colorado School of Mines recently received a grant from the National Institute of Environmental Sciences, an offshoot of the National Institutes of Health, that will last for two years in order to investigate the contamination of water in the communities of Widefield, Security, and Fountain.
Widget not in any sidebars
The water supplies in these areas were contaminated with chemicals that came from “aqueous film-forming foams (AFFF)” that are used in fighting fires and training. See: Invisible Plastic Nanoparticles Now Being Found In Drinking Water
As Eurekalert reports,
By measuring biological markers of exposure and health indicators in a sample of approximately 200 people who consumed contaminated water, this study will provide communities and scientists with an improved understanding of the biopersistence and potential health impacts of AFFF-derived poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs). PFASs are a class of chemicals widely used in industrial and commercial applications since the 1950s.
In July, 2017, a nine-month study conducted by the U.S. Air Force confirmed that firefighting foam being used at Peterson Air Force Base was responsible for contaminating soil and groundwater with PFASs. The levels found in the water and soil were more than 1,000 times what the EPA allows for limits with other chemicals.
Contamination had plagued these communities for several years but only recently was the source of the contamination discovered.
Dr. John Adgate, chair of the Colorado SPH’s Department of Environmental and Occupational Health and main investigator of the study stated,
This research will contribute to our understanding of the factors driving this unique exposure and how it may affect long-term health. We will collect the first systematic data on blood levels of these persistent compounds in this PFAS-impacted community. While exposure to PFASs has been significantly reduced due to work by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the local water utilities, our hope is that by gathering data on blood levels shortly after people’s peak exposure we can provide better answers on related health effects and potential next steps.
“Because we suspect that any health effects are likely related to peak blood levels, it is important to collect the blood data and health effect information as soon as we can,” he added.
SEE: Shocking Study Finds Water Of 15 Million Americans Contains Deadly Cancerous DuPont Chemical
“By using high resolution mass spectrometry to look at both water samples and a subset of human serum samples, we hope to improve our understanding of exactly which compounds bioaccumulate in humans and how long they stick around in the human body,” said Dr. Christopher Higgins, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Mines. “We will also explore the links between drinking water exposure, PFAS blood levels, and the potentially related health effects.” Dr. Higgins was also a participant in the study.
At this time, the health effects of PFAS in relation to humans and human exposure to the chemicals are unknown. However, no real monitoring of the affected populations has yet to be conducted. Hopefully, this study will go some length in discovering the health effects of the chemical in human beings. Even more so, an action plan to remove the chemical is immediately necessary.
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Brandon Turbeville – article archive here – is an author out of Florence, South Carolina. He is the author of six books, Codex Alimentarius — The End of Health Freedom, 7 Real Conspiracies,Five Sense Solutions and Dispatches From a Dissident, volume 1 and volume 2, The Road to Damascus: The Anglo-American Assault on Syria,and The Difference it Makes: 36 Reasons Why Hillary Clinton Should Never Be President. Turbeville has published over 1,000 articles dealing on a wide variety of subjects including health, economics, government corruption, and civil liberties. Brandon Turbeville’s podcast Truth on The Tracks can be found every Monday night 9 pm EST at UCYTV. He is available for radio and TV interviews. Please contact activistpost (at) gmail.com.
