After the most important floor water contamination in New Hampshire historical past, a state-commissioned examine launched this fall discovered considerably elevated charges of kidney most cancers within the city of Merrimack.
Residents worry that poisonous “eternally chemical compounds” are accountable. However to pin down a trigger, the researchers want tens of millions in funding. With federal {dollars} in flux, it’s unclear whether or not the ultimate part of analysis can be accomplished, leaving residents at midnight and insurance policies to handle pollution on the desk.
The chemical compounds, PFAS, are widespread in ingesting water and have been linked to a variety of opposed well being results, together with sure cancers. The examine in Merrimack places the neighborhood on the point of a uncommon likelihood to tie PFAS contamination to a most cancers cluster, confirming suspicions which are typically not possible to show because of the limitations of science.
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