“The Pennsylvania Department of Health has recruited approximately 250 Bucks and Montgomery County residents to have their blood tested for perfluorinated compounds, and testing will begin at the end of the month, department officials told residents at a public meeting in Horsham on Wednesday night.

The department is sending mailers to additional residents in an effort to ultimately recruit 500 people for the program.

The state health department received a $275,000 grant earlier this year to conduct the blood testing, which it then will use to create a small-scale study of the blood levels of residents. The chemicals, also known as PFAS, were used in firefighting foams at area military bases and eventually contaminated the drinking water supplies of at least 70,000 people in Warminster, Horsham, Warrington and some surrounding areas…

State epidemiologist Sharon Watkins provided an update to several dozen residents Wednesday night in the Horsham library. She said so far, mailers were sent to 350 random residences in the three most highly impacted communities, from which the department received 105 responses. Of those who agreed to participate so far, there are 206 adults and 46 children…

Blood testing will begin by the end of the month, and will be conducted on a rolling basis as more individuals agree to participate, Watkins said. Instructions will be mailed to participants, including a release form and information on how to schedule an appointment at either a Bucks County Health Department facility or the Willow Grove Health Center. Blood samples will be sent to a New York State Health Department laboratory for analysis…

Several residents at the meeting were critical of the health department’s approach to the study, saying they thought it was moving too slowly and that the agency would get better responses if they allowed interested residents to volunteer for the study, rather than send blind mailers. Some worried that blood levels already are dropping after the highest levels of exposure ceased in 2016 following public well closures.”

Read the full article by Kyle Bagenstose