PFAS Exposure Through Fish Consumption at Bradford Dyeing Association in Westerly, RI - v2
Citation:
Shepard, Z., D. Taylor, M. Cashman, M. Hedgespeth, A. Robuck, AND M. Byrns. PFAS Exposure Through Fish Consumption at Bradford Dyeing Association in Westerly, RI - v2. NEWMOA - Northeast Conference on the Science of PFAS: Public Health & the Environment, Marlborough, MA, April 02 - 04, 2024.
Impact/Purpose:
Consumption of fish with elevated PFAS concentrations has been linked to increased PFAS uptake for humans and wildlife. In this research, 24 PFAScompounds are quantified in muscle fillets from fish in pond formally used as a settling pond for treated textile manufacturing effluent. Concentrations ofPFAS within the fish tissue were assessed for consumption risks by the Rhode Island Department of Health (RI DOH). This research partnership isbeneficial in identifying unique assemblages of PFAS contamination within freshwater fish in Rhode Island. Further interpretation by RI DOH providedidentified potential community impacts from consuming fish within the Pawcatuck River.
Description:
The Pawcatuck River flows through Westerly, Rhode Island before discharging into Little Narragansett Bay. The Pawcatuck River has a long history of pollution associated with textile and dye manufacturing due to historic mill operations along the riverbank. Operations at the Bradford Dyeing Associationsreleased PFAS into wastewater lagoons which ultimately discharge into the Pawcatuck River. Despite the mill's closure, PFAS are still detected withinsurface waters of the river and the settling pond. The settling pond is now owned by a land trust and is used for fishing, but no known studies had evaluatedthe concentrations of PFAS within fish from the Bradford settling pond. The US EPA Atlantic Coastal Environmental Sciences Division (ACESD) led aTechnical Service Request to provide Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) with PFAS concentration data for fish within the former settling pond.Toxicologists from RIDOH used these data to calculate hazard quotients to quantify increased risks for non-cancer health effects for each PFAS. Hazardquotients were summed to calculate hazard indexes for the mixtures of PFAS in fish and were subsequently used to estimate the community impact ofonsite fish consumption.
