UMass Lowell to conduct study on PFAS exposure among construction workers
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While PFAS exposure has been widely studied in professions like firefighting and chemical manufacturing, little research has focused on its specific risks for construction workers—
Research involving human subjects is expected to finally begin in March if the team receives approval from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dhimiter Bello, UMass Lowell associate dean for research and graduate studies in the Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences, outlined the three main goals of the project: identifying construction site products that contain PFAS, measuring PFAS levels in workers across various construction trades by collecting and analyzing blood, urine, and stool samples, and educating workers, industry leaders, and policymakers about the presence of PFAS in construction materials and ways to minimize its impact.
Stephanie Stevens, a health communications specialist for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, stated that PFAS exposure in construction workers, especially painters and related trades, is not well understood, 'Therefore this research is intended to better understand these workplace exposures and to reduce or eliminate workers' PFAS exposures,' she said.
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Bello explained that rapidly rising awareness about the risks of PFAS has shifted more attention to the so-called forever chemicals in recent years.
'The study of chemical hazards in construction typically lags behind other industries,' said Bello. 'Both from the standpoint of risk perception as well as a political response, deaths or dismemberment make the front page and are more traumatic for workers, whereas chemical hazards take time to develop into diseases—sometimes decades.'
Bello said the project has already discovered the previously unknown presence of PFAS in several types of paint used on construction sites. However, he declined to name specific products or brands due to liability concerns.
'Compounding the issue, there is no way for workers or consumers to know which products contain PFAS. If you look at the Safety Data Sheets, none of them say they have PFAS in them,' said Bello. 'There is no way for anyone to look at a can of paint and say, this one has PFAS, how much of it, or what types.'
PFAS contamination has become a growing legal and regulatory battleground in recent years, and lawsuits have targeted chemical giants like 3M and DuPont for
'Our goal is not to harm the industry or anyone. Our goal is to make those wonderful products safer for the workers and for the general public,' said Bello.
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Nathan Metcalf can be reached at
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