CDC and ATSDR Release PFAS Exposure Assessment Report for the Lubbock County, TX Site

Wednesday, May 11, 2022
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Atlanta, GA – Today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) released the report for the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exposure assessment conducted near the Reese Technology Center site, formerly Reese Air Force Base, in Lubbock County, Texas.

The report summarizes levels of PFAS in blood and urine from a group of residents with private wells living near the Reese Technology Center in Lubbock County, TX and compares them to national PFAS levels. PFAS levels are shown by age, race/ethnicity, sex, number of years living in the community, drinking water consumption patterns, and other exposure parameters. The report also presents results from household dust and tap water samples and explores relationships between blood results and the environmental sampling data.

The exposure assessment found that the level of two PFAS, perfluorohexane sulfonic acid or PFHxS and perfluorooctanoic acid or PFOA, in the blood of participants were higher than national levels, while the other PFAS tested were similar to national averages or not detected enough to calculate averages. The elevated level of PFHxS and PFOA in blood may be linked with past contamination of the participants’ drinking water. Treated private well water samples collected during the 2020 exposure assessment met the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2016 Health Advisory (HA) and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s (TCEQ’s) protective concentration levels (PCLs) for PFAS. Households that receive bottled water and/or have water filtration systems installed by the Air Force should continue to use them.

The final PFAS exposure assessment report for Lubbock County, TX, is available here: https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/pfas/activities/assessments/sites/lubbock-county-tx.html.

CDC and ATSDR invite residents living near the Reese Technology Center to attend a virtual information session to learn more about the results of the PFAS exposure assessment. Experts also will answer community questions.

When:
Wednesday, May 25, 2022
Time:
6:00 p.m. (CST)

To register, please visit: https://bit.ly/LubbockEAMtg

ATSDR staff will also host small in-person and online meetings to answer additional community questions. Those interested in participating are encouraged to sign up here: https://bit.ly/LubbockSmallMtg.

Background:
The 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) authorized CDC and ATSDR to look at PFAS exposure in communities near current or former military bases that were known to have PFAS in their drinking water. The Reese Air Force Base in Lubbock County, TX used aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) containing PFAS for its firefighting training possibly as early as the 1970s. These compounds later moved off-site in groundwater, likely affecting private wells located downgradient of the base. The Air Force has provided bottled water delivery service to households with PFAS levels above federal and state guidelines.

The area near the Reese Technology Center in Lubbock County, TX is one of several communities that took part in the exposure assessments to examine human exposure to PFAS.

For ongoing updates about CDC’s and ATSDR’s PFAS exposure assessments, visit https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/pfas/PFAS-Exposure-Assessments.html

For information about PFAS, visit https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/pfas/index.html, call 1-800-CDC-INFO (232-4636), or email www.cdc.gov/info.

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ATSDR, a federal public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, evaluates the potential for adverse human health effects of exposure to hazardous substances in the environment.


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Page last reviewed: May 11, 2022