John Plahovinsak
In the October 12, 2022, issue of The Clermont Sun newspaper, a story entitled, “PFAS – The New Agent Orange” was published. At that time, there was no research study which directly linked exposure to PFAS chemicals with veterans’ cancer.
However, on July 17, 2023, a new federal research study was released proving a direct association between PFOS, a PFAS chemical, found in the blood of thousands of military personnel and testicular cancer.
The federal study was released by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences. The study found strong evidence that airmen, who were firefighters, had elevated levels of PFAS in their bloodstreams, but weaker evidence for those who lived on military installations with high levels of PFAS water.
PFAS is the common name for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals, which are substances contained in white film forming foam, used by firefighters. These two (2) chemicals are known as “Forever Chemicals” because they do not break down in the environment and they do accumulate in the human body.
“To my knowledge,” said NCI Senior Investigator Mark Purdue, “this is the first study to measure PFAS levels in the U.S. military population and to investigate associations with a cancer endpoint in this population, so that brings new evidence to the table.”
The evidence of the deadly effects of PFAS chemicals started with a Department of Defense (DoD) study in 1974, followed by an Air Force Technical Report in 1983. Although the military was aware of the toxicity of PFAS chemicals, the military failed to take any action to curtail the usage of the foam in firefighting operations.
However, by congressional order, the DoD was mandated to stop using all PFAS-containing foams by October of 2024. Congress has also established the PFAS Task Force, which is co-chaired by Representative Dan Kildee.
Congressman Kildee has been a leading proponent to identify and address PFAS at U.S. military installations. He secured a nationwide health study in the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act to study the impact of PFAS exposure.
Once the nationwide health study is completed, any health conditions the study shows are linked to PFAS will be required to be covered by the VA.
On June 21, 2023, Kildee introduced H.R. 4249, the Veterans Exposed to Toxic PFAS Act (VET PFAS Act). As of August 19, 2023, this bipartisan Act has twenty-seven (27) co-sponsors.
This Act would require the VA to treat conditions linked to exposure and provide disability benefits for those affected including for testicular cancer.
In addition, the VET PFAS Act of 2023 would cover the following conditions related to PFAS exposure in past medical research, including high cholesterol, ulcerative colitis, thyroid disease, testicular cancer, kidney cancer and pregnancy-induced hypertension.
On April 27, 2023, Senator Jeanne Shaheen reintroduced S. 1360 the PFAS Exposure Assessment and Documentation Act. This Senate Bill would require the DoD to test all service members, not just firefighters, that were stationed at installations with known or suspected release of PFAS.
This test would be a part of the veterans’ annual health checkup, pre-deployment or post-deployment examination and, also include their family members. The DOD must pay for blood testing if any of the evaluations result in a positive determination of potential exposure to PFAS chemicals.
“There is sufficient evidence that these PFAS chemicals are associated with several health concerns, including harm to the immune and reproductive systems, as well associations with some types of cancers like kidney cancer,” said Senator Jeanne Shaheen.
Blood testing usually costs between $400 to $600. Currently, the VA does not recommend blood testing for PFAS, stating on its’ website that “blood tests can not be linked to current or future health conditions or guide medical treatment conditions.”
“For too long, the federal government has been too slow to act to deal with the threat posed by PFAS exposure,” said Congressman Kildee. “This situation is completely unacceptable.”
“Our nation has a sacred obligation to care for the men and women who have suffered the ill effects of toxic exposures in the military,” said the Disabled American Veterans Deputy National Legislative Leader Shane Liermann.
“DAV strongly supports the VET PFAS Act, as it keeps the promise and removes barriers to service-connected benefits and provides access to VA health care,” concluded Liermann. “We applaud Congressman Kildee and his relentless advocacy and leadership for those disabled veterans exposed to PFAS.”
My Opinion: When our veterans signed up to serve in the military for this country, I am sure they didn’t sign up for testicular cancer, kidney cancer, thyroid disease, pregnancy-induced hypertension, ulcerative colitis, or any of the other multitude of health harms associated with PFAS exposure.
Recently, I had an opportunity to review the 2023 National Cancer Institute (NCI) and Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences Study. The study is complex, but the summary/conclusion is clear — there is a linkage between exposure to PFAS and testicular cancer.
Will the VA consider exposure to PFAS as a presumptive for testicular cancer or must Congress pass H.R. 4249 and S. 1360 before anything is done for our suffering veterans? In October of 2022, PFAS chemicals were cited as the NEW Agent Orange. Hopefully, we won’t have to wait decades to get something done for our veterans!
BioSketch: John Plahovinsak is a 32-year retired Army veteran, who served from 1967 to 1999. He is the current Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Department of Ohio Hospital Chairman and Adjutant of DAV Chapter #63 (Clermont County). He can be contacted at plahovinsak@msn.com.