Washington, D.C. releases data showing dangerous levels of PFAS in fish
Navy Yard, Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling are prime suspects.
The fish are poisoned by a host of chemicals from these bases and other sources.
By Pat Elder
January 3, 2024 Online here.
Fishing for Largemouth Bass at DC Water’s sewer outfall on the Potomac River.
The city of Washington, D.C. has recently completed a tissue study of fish caught in DC waters. The city warns that people who eat fish caught in the District of Columbia’s Potomac and Anacostia Rivers need to consider “eating less of those fish.” The study, which has yet to be released, analyzed the tissue of various species of fish for a variety of chemicals, including for the first time, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS.
Military Poisons has received the raw PFAS fish data from the Department of Energy & Environment, DOEE. This is the first time the city has tested fish for PFAS, despite warnings from environmentalists for many years. We’ll examine the PFAS fish results below.
People should not be eating any fish from surface waters within the District of Columbia! The DC fish advisory is weak, while those fishing in the district and consuming the fish they catch are likely to be unaware of this tepid warning.
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Thank you to so many for contributing to my work!
I am most excited by the prospect of purchasing blood testing kits. I think they would be most helpful in Honolulu and Japan. If we don't raise enough money, we won't go to Japan with Veterans for Peace, but I want to organize people who are likely exposed to contamination coming from Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam. I'd also like to test water and blood at Fort Ord, CA. I need money to do it. - Pat
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The DC government says the fish advisory is preliminary “as the US EPA final guidance on how to interpret PFAS fish tissue concentrations is not currently available.” Once the guidance is available from the EPA, the DOEE says it will complete the analysis of the findings of the fish tissue study and make new fish consumption recommendations, as appropriate.
The EPA, under Democratic and Republican administrations, has been on the sidelines about fish advisories. Many states realized this years ago and have set out to enact guidelines to regulate PFAS in rivers and fish, although their advisories generally fail to protect human health.
The DOEE brushed off its fish advisory from 2016. The advice on eating most fish remained unchanged. After examining the high levels of PFAS in Largemouth Bass, DC now says people should avoid eating the popular sportfish. DC relaxed its advisory on Blue Catfish from 2 to 3 meals per month and they went from 2 meals to 1 meal per month for Sunfish. Everything else stayed the same.
The DC government says their advisories do not pertain to fish purchased from restaurants, fish vendors, or supermarkets, although the city has not tested fish from these sources.
Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs)
DC’s 2016 fish advisory was promulgated in response to high levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in fish tissue. PCBs are oily liquids that were used in electrical equipment and hydraulic fluids. They enter the rivers from groundwater and surface water drainage from military and industrial sites. PCBs were banned in the U.S. in 1979. PCBs are probable human carcinogens and they are associated with many cancers.
PCBs enter fish through water and sediment, or by eating prey that have PCBs in their bodies. Like PFAS, PCBs can build up to thousands or hundreds of thousands of times higher than the levels in the water. Mercury is also a great concern in DC’s fish.
The culprits
The Washington Navy Yard
The Naval Research Laboratory in Washington and its Chesapeake Bay Detachment in Chesapeake Beach, Maryland are responsible for the development of aqueous film-forming foam, AFFF.
They are the founding fathers of AFFF, a curse upon humanity. It’s not surprising that groundwater along the banks of the Anacostia River is extremely contaminated with a total of 58,764 parts per trillion of total PFAS.
PFOA —- 45,000
PFOS —- 8,320
PFHxS — 5,340
PFBS —- 104
The Navy has only released data on 4 PFAS compounds. We can only guess what else is in the groundwater. Final Site Inspection - NRL
The Navy likes to say that it didn’t realize how bad the AFFF was, so it didn’t investigate it until recently. The Army does this, too. The Navy has known of the toxicity of the PFAS in AFFF and its impact on fish since 1976.
The AFFF foam, after it was used to extinguish the routinely lit flames at the Navy Yard, was simply allowed to empty into storm drains – and into the river. They’ve been poisoning the fish eaten by two generations of Washingtonians.
The Washington Navy Yard is also responsible for contaminating fish with PCB’s and other deadly toxins. It is located on the Anacostia River, close to its confluence with the Potomac. The First Five-Year Review environmental report of the Washington Navy Yard in September, 2021 describes PCB contamination at the Navy Yard:
· Buildings 22, 76, 101, 104, 111, 154, 166, 169, 176, 184, 196, 200, and 218 reported leaking PCB transformers.
· The EPA identified elevated PCB concentrations in the sediment that had accumulated in storm sewer manholes.
· PCB Exceedances were reported in stormwater discharge from the basement trough of Building 118. The sump discharged to the D.C. sewer outfall.
The Washington Navy Yard has poisoned the fish in the nation’s capital with PCBs, although this is only part of the story. The Navy Yard has also contaminated the soil and the Anacostia River with a witch’s brew of deadly toxins.
What’s in your fish, Washington? What’s in your rivers, and what’s in your air?
Woah, ah, mercy, mercy me
Ah, things ain't what they used to be.
Poison is the wind that blows..
Fish full of mercury
Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling
PFAS totaled 34,930 ppt in the groundwater at JBAB, according to the Final Site Inspection in Dec., 2023.
PFOS 20,400
PFOA 2,230
PFBS 1,300
PFNA 11,000
Groundwater flow generally follows the topography and moves in an east to west direction, toward the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers. These totals, along with the PFAS draining from the Navy Yard explain why the fish are full of the stuff.
JBAB, as it is known, has reported concentrations of PCB’s and these other toxins exceeding regulatory limits. All of these toxins are found in fish:
· PCB’s (immunological changes, liver damage, probable carcinogen)
· Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) (many cancers)
· benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) (known carcinogen)
· dibenz(a,h)anthracene (DBA) (alters DNA)
· Arsenic (human carcinogen)
Areas of surface and subsurface soil in the Naval Research Laboratory’s gravel parking area were found to have been impacted by PCBs.
- Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling Fourth Five-Year Review Nov. 2020
Groundwater at JBAB contains high levels of Arsenic, Benzene, and
Trichloroethylene. The soil has also been contaminated with Lead, Mercury,
Chromium VI, and DDT to name a few. Results from DOD/ProPublica
Washington Gas, Pepco, and CSX have also
contaminated the Anacostia River.
The Washington Gas East Station, the Potomac Electric Power Company Benning Road Facility, and the CSX Transportation Corporation Benning Yard, have all contaminated the region with PCB’s. See the Baseline Performance Monitoring Plan Prepared for the DOEE, Government of the District of Columbia, June 2023.
Seafood vendors at the Maine Avenue Fish Market in Washington, DC
- Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
No one should be eating the fish from the Anacostia or Potomac Rivers in Washington! Health officials are failing the public by allowing this destructive behavior to continue. When we add PFAS to the already poisoned fish we exacerbate existing health problems like cancer, liver disease, thyroid issues, birth defects, kidney disease, and decreased immunity.
The graphic to the right shows the average of three Smallmouth Bass caught from the Potomac River.
The city says it’s OK to eat one of these fish monthly.
They haven’t told us the levels of PCB’s, mercury, etc. in these fish, but the PFAS concentrations alone present a danger to human health, especially for women who are pregnant or may become pregnant. Let’s examine these concentrations, beginning with the PFOS.
The EPA has established a maximum contaminant level of 4 parts per trillion for PFOS in drinking water. The Smallmouth Bass has 17,800 parts per trillion, so this is not good. I asked Linda Birnbaum, the former Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health if this is a fair comparison. She said it was. "Oral is oral," she explained. “Both are routes of ingestion. Whether you eat it or drink it, PFAS go to the same places in the body and do the same thing. We need appropriate fish advisories and regulations,” she said.
A little bit of math
· A Smallmouth Bass caught in the Potomac River contained 17,800 parts per trillion of PFOS in its fillet. This is the same as 17.8 nanograms per gram, ng/g.
· A standard meal of Smallmouth Bass may weigh 8 ounces or 227 grams.
· The filet of the fish contains 17.8 nanograms per gram of PFOS.
· 17.8 ng/g x 227 grams of fish = 4,040 nanograms of PFOS.
· Nanograms per gram is a concentration of the carcinogen.
· 4,040 nanograms of PFOS is a dose of the carcinogen.
PFAS may cause fetal abnormalities and
a lifetime of illness for the unborn.
Most of us wouldn’t know if the numbers above present a danger to human health. Can the District of Columbia find a licensed medical doctor willing to come forward to testify that there’s nothing to be concerned about if a woman in her first trimester of pregnancy consumes 12,120 nanograms of Perfluoro octane sulfonic acid, (PFOS)?
The Maryland Department of the Environment reported that a Largemouth Bass was found with 94,200 ppt of PFOS in its fillet at the mouth of Piscataway Creek and the Potomac River. This is about ten miles downstream from Washington. They also reported a Sunfish with 417,000 ppt of PFOS. They don’t tell us about the other PFAS compounds in the fish, which may exceed the PFOS totals.
The fish are poisoned by runoff from Joint Base Andrews. The Largemouth Bass is five times more contaminated than DC’s Smallmouth Bass, while the Sunfish is 23 times more contaminated.
PFAS stands for all 16,000 of the per - and poly fluoroalkyl substances. PFOS is one kind of PFAS, and it is a great threat to humanity because of its ability to bioaccumulate in aquatic life. Generally, American policy makers at the federal and state levels have been slow to counter the threat, while the Germans and the Japanese, especially at the local level, are starting to get serious about taking steps to protect human health. The fish are poisoned in Washington’s Potomac, Bonn’s Rhine, and in Tokyo Bay.
This is a summary of the total concentrations found in Washington’s fish, sorted by PFAS compound.
PFOS bioaccumulates in fish more aggressively than other PFAS compounds.
PFOS comprised 47.7% of all 16 PFAS compounds reported by DC in the fish.
People don’t know a whole lot about compounds like 7:3 FTCA, 5:3 FTCA, PFDoA, PFTeDA, and PFTrDA but they’re a threat to our health. We must regulate all of these chemicals as one class, rather than going after them one at a time.
Meeting with Tommy Wells
Three years ago, a group of Green Party members and I met with Tommy Wells, the former Director of the DC Department of Energy & Environment (DOEE). Wells said the fish were fine and told us he eats fish caught from the Anacostia River. We discussed the Bloom’s soil conditioner produced with the sludge from DC Water’s Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant. The soil conditioner is sold to consumers at hardware stores. Bloom’s product contained 23,800 ppt of PFOA and 22,100 ppt PFOS. People use the toxic product in their vegetable gardens. The carcinogens poison fruit and vegetables. Despite our damning evidence of harm, Wells said he was waiting for the EPA to formulate regulatory policies regarding PFAS. See Sludge in the Garden.
It’s the same dynamic everywhere in the U.S., especially in the heart of EPA Region 3. PFAS is a monumental problem. Policy makers take tiny steps while burying their heads in the poisoned sediment.
Let’s look at the following table that describes the data released by DOEE. The table addresses 13 species of fish, the number tested, PFOS levels, and total PFAS levels. Aside from PFOS, the compounds: 7:3 FTCA, 5:3 FTCA, PFDoA, PFTeDA, and PFTrDA were most prevalent.
The red dots show the “corners” of Washington, DC. The Potomac flows southward from the northwest while the Anacostia flows from the northeast.
Generally, Blue Catfish and Channel Catfish had the lowest levels of PFOS while the Largemouth Bass topped the charts. American Eel were also very high. People eat these fish from these waters as they have for at least 4,000 years. It’s what they do. It’s free food and it tastes good, PCB’s, Mercury, PFAS and all.
We don’t see stories about this most important human health issue in the Washington Post or on DC television stations because the Pentagon, on the other side of the river, does not want to be held accountable for its criminal behavior.
The following four tables show the concentration of PFAS in fish at four general locations: Lower Anacostia, Upper Anacostia, Lower Potomac, and Upper Potomac. If the fish stayed put we would have a better idea of what’s in the water and the sediment!
See the raw data in parts per million from DOEE here.
The fish with the lowest concentrations of PFAS: Blue Catfish, Channel Catfish, White Perch, Striped Bass, and Carp are all bottom feeders. They’ll eat aquatic plants, aquatic insects, and other creepy, crawly things on the bottom of the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers in my beloved city. The sediment is caked with the chemicals which become a part of the very building blocks of the food chain.
Everything is contaminated by military and industry.
We must put the toxicity of the fish into perspective. DC Water reports levels of PFOS, PFOA, PFHxS, and PFNA to be under 4 parts per trillion in drinking water and we have no reason to doubt them. My sampling of drinking water supplied by the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission to homes throughout the region show levels of 2 parts per trillion in tests of 55 different PFAS compounds. People with wells may be threatened, however.
Let’s compare DC to Maryland
DC is less irresponsible than Maryland as far as PFAS in fish are concerned. The DC government says no one should eat Largemouth Bass caught from the Potomac or the Anacostia while Maryland says consuming three heavily contaminated Largemouth Bass from the Potomac per month is fine. Both jurisdictions allow people to eat a variety of cancer-causing fish. Health departments encourage fish consumption.
DC fish advisories listed here cover all waters of the Anacostia River and the Potomac River within the District of Columbia. Maryland advisories apply to the Anacostia River north of Washington and the Potomac River from the DC line southward to the Rt 301 Bridge. Serving portions are 8 ounces or 227 grams. Maryland owns the waters of the Potomac River outside of the District of Columbia.
Generally, dark meat and/or belly fat is more heavily laden with a variety of toxins in all fish. Similarly, the tomalley, or “mustard” in a crab is a dangerous carcinogenic stew. Maryland has refused to test Blue Crabs, although they say it’s OK to eat them throughout the state. Maryland tells the public to avoid the mustard in crabs caught from Baltimore Harbor. It cautions the public to eat the mustard “sparingly” elsewhere. I tested crabs near the Potomac 70 miles south of Washington and found 6,650 ppt of total PFAS so I don’t eat them anymore.
Who are you going to listen to, public health officials or me?
The Downs Law Group also helps to make this work possible. The Downs Law Group understands the contamination flowing from military bases. The firm employs attorneys accredited by the Department of Veterans Affairs to assist those who have served in obtaining VA Compensation and Pension Benefits they are rightly owed.