Trust emerging science
I commend Maria Powell’s work and leadership on PFAS science and unwavering support of environmental justice. As a family medicine physician, I see patients with pre-eclampsia more and more over the last 25 years of practice. Just like climate change, PFAS science is not accepted by all people, and in this case, there are far less studies and attention to this group of chemicals and the health issues they are associated with. It is also very inconvenient to close down a city well when there is a threat of harm but no “bodies” so to speak. Very difficult decisions indeed, and those in charge likely have an unconscious bias toward “business as usual” rather than adopting the precautionary principle and closing the well with an explanation based on the precautionary aspect.
The epidemiology on this is extremely difficult to prove, so Madison data on health effects of the PFAS chemicals is not likely to be investigated and even if it was, unlikely to definitively prove cause and effect. However, that is where officials need to trust the emerging science and use the strictest standards and regulations, including more inclusiveness of PFAS chemicals and lower thresholds of contamination. This is certainly difficult and inconvenient, but puts public health first.
— Claire Gervais, M.D., via isthmus.com
Thank you for your article on the PFAS situation in Madison. As a resident of the well 15 area, I’ve been very wary. Your article explained the risks very clearly. Thank you for that honesty. We have to take action NOW, before it’s beyond too late.
I also appreciate hearing Mayor Rhodes-Conway’s quote again from the primary election. I was aghast when she said she would drink [water from well 15] because she isn’t having children. It wasn’t humorous. We moved from an area with great water quality (go Hetch Hetchy!) and purchased a house in Madison and the well 15 area. I quickly became pregnant and nursed that kiddo for four years (his older brother in tandem for a few). Countless gallons of water have been ingested, water that sustained our lives. It sickens me (probably quite literally) that I unintentionally exposed my children to a high quantity of PFAS. I would argue that they received way more than the 20 percent the mayor claims.
— Michelle Russell, via email
