About half of American prisons are situated downstream from water sources likely contaminated with cancer-linked 'forever chemicals', according to a new study.
Because of inadequate water quality testing in and around such locations, officials have only confirmed that 5 percent of U.S. carceral institutions are in watersheds containing these toxic compounds, as stated in the study published in the American Journal of Public Health. The American Journal of Public Health published the study.However, many more sites have presumptive sources of exposure, and tens of thousands of incarcerated individuals are in these facilities.
When it comes to toxins like 'forever chemicals', also known as PFAS, incarcerated populations are a concern as they have minimal ability to reduce their exposures and are therefore especially vulnerable to acute health effects, the researchers emphasized.
Nicholas Shapiro, a medical anthropologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, referred to the incarcerated population as a city spread out over a vast archipelago of carceral facilities, highlighting the potential very high levels of toxicants in their water and their inability to mitigate exposure. He said in a statement..
The figurative 'city' has potentially very high levels of toxicants in its water and no ability to mitigate exposure, he continued.
PFAS, known for persisting in both the human body and the environment, have been linked to illnesses like kidney cancer, thyroid disease, and testicular cancer.
There are numerous types of PFAS found in industrial waste, certain types of firefighting foam, and household products such as nonstick pans, waterproof apparel, and many cosmetics.
To draw their conclusions about prisons’ potential exposure to the substances, the researchers compiled a list of the country’s 6,118 carceral facilities from the Department of Homeland Security and conducted a geospatial data analysis to pinpoint sites in watersheds with known or likely PFAS pollution.
They also considered whether watershed boundaries were at higher elevations with respect to the carceral institutions, as such positioning increases the likelihood that pollutants are infiltrating the facility’s water supply.
Ultimately, they identified 310 sites — or 5 percent of the total facilities — situated in such watersheds, at a lower elevation than at least one known source of PFAS contamination.
The study mentions that at least 150,000 people, including at least 2,200 juveniles, live in these facilities.
The authors found that nearly half of all U.S. carceral institutions — 47 percent — have at least one presumptive source of PFAS pollution at a higher elevation than the facilities and within their watershed boundaries.
More than half of U.S. juvenile facilities — 56 percent — meet that description.
The majority of potentially polluted prisons, jails, and detention centers, which are mainly state- and county-run institutions, accommodate about 990,000 people, including at least 12,800 juveniles, according to the authors.
Many prisons may be dealing with multiple PFAS exposures, with 31 percent of U.S. facilities located in areas with more than one likely source of contamination, according to the study. About 13 percent have more than five likely sources.
Because around a third of the prisons were missing complete population data, however, the total number of individuals exposed could be much higher, the researchers warned.
Co-author Lindsay Poirier, an assistant professor of statistical and data sciences at Smith College, highlighted the difficulties the researchers encountered in conducting the study due to the “substantial data gaps” in water quality monitoring and population numbers.
“We’re trying to draw attention to areas that have been underassessed,” Poirier said in a statement.
In addition to the lack of clear information available, the authors pointed to potential environmental justice issues, as the residents of U.S. prisons “are disproportionately Black, Latinx, Indigenous, low-income, and LGBTQ+.”
Young people in prison are also disproportionately adolescents of color, with Black youths more than four times more likely than white youths to be held in a juvenile institution, according to the study.
U.S. prisons, they explained, are therefore “an important window into how the justice system advances public health inequities,” the researchers stated.
Although the authors could not test whether the polluted water was for sure entering the prisons, they emphasized a need for further research, as these toxins can have lifelong health impacts.
“The most rigorous and consistent water testing is done in well-resourced or particularly engaged communities,” Shapiro said, noting that these same communities are best equipped to reduce their exposure.
“Prison populations have a lot in common with marginalized populations elsewhere in the country that lack the resources and political clout to get their water cleaned up,” Shapiro added. “That needs to change.”
