Jersey residents are being advised to undergo phlebotomy to reduce high levels of "permanent chemicals" in their blood after tests revealed levels of the chemical in some islanders' bodies could cause health problems.

Jersey's private drinking water supplies were contaminated by the use of firefighting foam containing PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) produced by the US multinational 3M at the island's airport.

PFAS are a family of more than 10,000 chemicals that can accumulate in the body and have been linked to diseases such as kidney and bladder cancer, thyroid disease and immune deficiencies.

Phlebotomy removes a certain amount of blood from a vein. It is safe and the body will replenish the blood naturally, but it must be repeated until it is clean.

"I just want it out of my body. I don't want to end up with bladder cancer," said Sarah Simon, a resident from a contaminated area who had high levels in her blood.

In response to the blood results, the government established an independent PFAS scientific advisory group to advise on public policy. The panel's first report recommended that the government consider providing phlebotomy services for affected residents.

“Studies have shown that phlebotomy is an effective way to reduce PFAS levels in the blood,” said Ian Cousins, one of the panel members. However, he added that there was no guarantee that the phlebotomy process would prevent or cure illnesses related to the chemical. disease.

The treatment will cost around £100,000 upfront and then up to £200,000 a year. The group is also considering the benefits of the drug cholestyramine, which a study suggests can reduce PFAS in the blood faster and cheaper, despite possible side effects. The government said it plans to launch clinical services in early 2025.

Pollution on the island persisted for decades. "We know they started using 3M's firefighting foam in the 1960s, then did weekly firefighting training exercises in the 1990s, and then the foam started showing up in nearby streams," said Jay, a former Jersey Airport engineer who drank the contaminated water. Jeremy Snowdon said over the years. He detected elevated levels of PFAS in his blood and had high cholesterol levels.

Jersey discovered PFAS in groundwater in the mid-1990s. In September 2000, 3M met with island officials about its firefighting foam and stopped making the product around the same time.

However, it was not until 2006 that residents living in Saint-Ouen Bay, part of the PFAS-contaminated "plume", were moved to a piped water supply.

"Why do they keep us drinking well water?" Graeme Farmer lived with his family next to the airport in the 1990s.

Farmer has multiple myeloma, a type of leukemia that has been linked to PFAS exposure in some studies. He said doctors took bone marrow samples to assess the cancer's progression and found that the cancer was progressing extremely slowly, suggesting it started around 1998. His father developed kidney and bladder cancer around the same time, cementing their belief that the diseases were caused by cancer. Drink contaminated water.

Graeme Farmer is one of the plume area residents where the state is offering blood testing. Tests on 88 islanders showed that 70 per cent had levels of perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS) above safe thresholds, which can affect brain development and thyroid function. More than 30% of people have elevated levels of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), a possible carcinogen, and 18% have elevated levels of the carcinogen perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA).

These thresholds are higher than those for 95% of the US population. All these persistent, bioaccumulative compounds are now banned under the Stockholm Convention. "These are people who have been exposed to the virus since the 1990s, so their infection levels were probably very high at that time," Cousins ​​said.

PFAS contamination also affects public water supplies. Jersey Water stopped using the most polluting borehole more than 15 years ago, but only stopped using the other five polluting sources by 2022. All of its reservoirs contain PFAS considered to be at moderate risk levels.

"The whole island is really exposed," Cousins ​​said, because the running water is "a little bit high compared to where we would like it to be."

More than 100 residents outside the plume area received independent blood tests due to concerns about tap water test results. Unvalidated results showed that 57% had PFHxS levels above U.S. safety thresholds and 15% had PFOS levels above safety limits. Many people have reported health problems they believe may be related to PFAS exposure.

Jersey Water said that "during 2024, 100% of the water supplied by Jersey Water will comply with applicable standards for PFAS". However, given that Jersey's drought-prone reservoirs only have 120 days of water capacity, the company has not ruled out using the contaminated water supply again.

Jersey Water said: "Our current operating policy is to use these affected water sources only during periods of severe drought and only in conjunction with desalination plants."

For residents like Snowden, eliminating PFAS from their blood seems pointless if their drinking water remains contaminated. "We know it's everywhere but we want Jersey Water to reduce its levels," he said. "Authorities seem to say the plume is the only area of ​​contamination, but that's not the case."

Cousins ​​agreed and stressed the importance of tackling the plume problem, saying the government "needs to make sure the contamination is eliminated or controlled so it doesn't spread and cause problems for crops and so on".

A government test last year found PFOS levels in potatoes in the plume area were 10 times higher than recommended by the European Commission, while levels on the other side of the island were even higher.

The Jersey government said the levels were below tolerable thresholds, but a spokesman for the European Food Safety Authority disputed that analysis. "It is misleading to assert that there is no public health risk based solely on potato consumption levels," they said. "Risk assessments should include all dietary sources of PFAS and water quality data to accurately assess potential health impacts on the Jersey population."

Despite growing evidence of health effects, compensation remains unlikely. In 2005, the Jersey Government signed a confidentiality agreement with 3M, agreeing not to make a £2.6 million legal claim over the clean-up. Jersey must also assist 3M in defending any future claims.

A source who spoke on condition of anonymity said Jersey needed 3M's permission to carry out the blood test to avoid a backlash from the company. "The state agreed to conduct individual blood tests, but not screening, because that could be the first step in a class-action lawsuit."

Rob Bilott, the lawyer who won the first major PFAS case against U.S. chemical company DuPont, said he was surprised by how restrictive the deal was. “I haven’t seen anything like this where two parties reach an agreement to try to help a company respond to someone else’s claims,” he said. “Especially when it affects public health and safety or research.”

One resident, Debbie Thorn, said: "This is the biggest cover-up that has ever happened on this island. The scientific team are doing what anyone should do, but this is just lip service from the government. The way to serve.”

The Jersey Government said it was "committed to transparency, public safety and environmental protection when addressing the challenges posed by PFAS".

"3M announced in 2022 that we would exit all PFAS production worldwide by the end of 2025 and are proceeding as planned," a 3M spokesperson said.