Governor Chris Sununu wants the former Pease Air Force base included in a first-ever national study on the health effects of toxic chemicals called PFCs.
Sununu wrote this week to the federal agency leading the study, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. It’s part of the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.
The latest federal defense spending bill authorizes the agency to spend $7 million to study the health impacts of perfluorinated chemicals, or PFCs.
They're thought to cause cancer and can get into the air and drinking water from lots of products, including certain fire-fighting foams.
Those were once common at places like Pease Air Force base, now Pease International Tradeport, which is located in Portsmouth and Newington.
Sununu wants Pease included in the new federal study.
In a letter to the Agency for Toxic Substances, Sununu says people near Pease are "rightfully concerned" about PFC contamination. He says they want to help shape medical research on the chemicals.
New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat, also cited Seacoast residents' worries in advocating for the study in Congress last year.
