All concerns: Genesee County

How does the presence of PFAS affect children?

There are many unknowns about the impacts of PFAS, but recent studies suggest that children are even more negatively affected by PFAS contamination than adults.

In Genesee County, 5.7% of the population are children under the age of 5 that could potentially be exposed to PFAS every day. With 11 contamination sites in Genesee County, this presents potential for exposure to children.

Kids encounter more situations where they can interact closely with PFAS. They crawl on floors potentially encountering PFAS in carpets, household dust, and cleaning supplies. They put all kinds of things in their mouths that may contain PFAS.

For infants, this concern is magnified even more. Infants can be exposed unintentionally by their mothers before they’re even born. Everything she eats or drinks directly affects her unborn child.