Delaware PFAS Exposure Assessment and Health Impact Research

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) conducted a study in Delaware’s northern (New Castle) county to evaluate PFAS exposures in residents who drank PFAS-contaminated water and to review healthcare claims records for potential evidence of increased incidence of PFAS-related health effects in county residents. To gain a representative understanding of PFAS exposures across the state, Delaware’s Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) needed similar data for the state’s central (Kent) and southern (Sussex) counties.  DHSS’s Division of Public Health contracted with ERG to support the design and implementation of a study in Kent and Sussex counties that would replicate and expand on the recent ATSDR study. 

ERG assembled a multi-disciplinary team—which includes the same PFAS, biomonitoring, and healthcare claims data experts who supported the ATSDR work in New Castle County—to scope, design, and implement a study to meet Delaware’s research objectives. In performing this work, they will replicate or adapt the previously established outreach and recruitment strategies, data collection procedures, and quality control procedures and leverage existing relationships with analytical laboratories. During the initial phase, our team is developing a comprehensive protocol, for Institutional Review Board review, that describes how research goals will be met and details strategies for secure data collection. For the exposure assessment, their work will include setting criteria and requirements for biological (blood, urine) and environmental (tap water, soil, dust) sampling, including consent documentation and customized questionnaire development. When reviewing healthcare claims data, our team will build on the novel approaches they used in New Castle County for gathering de-identified data for health outcomes of interest.