PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (NEWS CENTER Maine) — Good news for families of people who drank contaminated water at a former Air Force base in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Congress last week approved $7 million for a first of its kind national health study to look into the long-term health impact of exposure to chemicals known as PFCs.
Moms whose children drank contaminated water at daycare on base have been fighting for a federal health study for several years.
Testing for Pease fought for blood testing for nearly 2,000 adults and children. Those tests revealed high levels of nine different PFCs. It's not known if Pease will be included in the study which will be conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
Eight bases across the country, active and closed, will be chosen as test sites.
"This, to me, is an opportunity to study multiple populations that have been exposed to these chemicals and to help give people like me answers to what may happen to their health in the future," said Andrea Amico of Testing for Pease.
The study is expected to look for links to high cholesterol, thyroid disease, testicular cancer, kidney cancer and pregnancy-induced hypertension.
The moms will be pressing their case to include Pease in the study when federal health officials hold a community meeting in Portsmouth in May.
