Hunters warned that record levels of ‘forever chemicals’ found in wildlife near New Mexico base

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Environmental regulators and health officials in New Mexico are warning hunters that harmful chemicals known to cause cancer in people have been found at record levels in birds, small mammals and plants at a lake near Holloman Air Force Base.

In fact, state officials say the findings are some of the highest levels documented in wildlife and plants worldwide based on comparisons with other published studies. Researchers contracted by the state tested muscle, liver and bone tissue in ducks, other birds and rodents as well as eggshells, algae and even skin shed by a rattlesnake.

The findings come as more states in recent years have been forced to issue health advisories to hunters and others as a result of “forever chemicals” known as PFAS showing up in wild animals that are hunted for sport and sustenance. From Maine to Michigan and beyond, wildlife managers and scientists have been busy expanding testing as the scope of the problem widens.

PFAS chemicals, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are an increasing focus of public health and environmental agencies, in part because they don’t degrade or do so slowly in the environment and can remain in a person’s bloodstream for life.

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In New Mexico, the concern centers on a lake that serves as the wastewater reservoir for Holloman Air Force Base. It sits at the edge of the base and near White Sands National Park. While hunting is now prohibited there, state officials are concerned that the lake serves as a layover for ducks and other migratory birds that could end up being harvested elsewhere.

“The levels of PFAS contamination in Holloman Lake are deeply concerning, particularly for hunters who may have consumed waterfowl from the area over the past decade,” said Miranda Durham, the medical director for the state Department of Health.

Durham and other state officials used the report made public Monday to put more pressure on federal officials amid ongoing legal battles over cleanup at Holloman and at Cannon Air Force Base in eastern New Mexico.

Contamination, mostly from firefighting foam used widely in training exercises, has been detected at hundreds of military installations across the United States. Experts have said cleanup will stretch into the billions of dollars and will take years.

The New Mexico study points to the need for additional testing of waterfowl and oryx samples to better characterize the risk to hunters outside the immediate footprint of contamination at the base and the lake.

Tasha Stoiber, a senior scientist at the Environmental Working Group, called the levels of PFAS in wildlife at the lake alarming. But she said they are not surprising given that the chemicals — used in nonstick pans and many other products — are pervasive in the environment.

“These chemicals accumulate in the body over time, creating serious long-term health risks, including cancer, developmental harm and immune system suppression,” Stoiber told The Associated Press. “The situation at Holloman Lake highlights just how much more we need to understand about PFAS contamination in wildlife and the broader environment.”

In Maine, the state wildlife agency is working with university researchers to track deer and turkey to understand how their movements could potentially influence exposure. That state currently has advisories for three areas, including one that spans 25 square miles, where the risk is higher because of the historic use of contaminated fertilizer for fields — a practice now banned there.

“We’ve issued some advisories, but it’s not widespread like a landscape-level issue at all,” said Nate Webb, the wildlife director for Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. Still, Webb said it feels like the more sampling that’s done, the more places that PFAS pops up.

New Mexico regulators say the work at Holloman Lake indicates the reach that these chemicals have in the environment. They also point out that New Mexico’s ecosystems are tied to the state’s cultural and economic wellbeing.

Matthew Monjaras, who leads the nonprofit group Impact Outdoors, has been hunting duck and other big game for more than two decades. He is teaching his sons to do the same and is working with veterans and school kids to expand access to the outdoors and improve wildlife habitat through restoration projects.

While the potential for exposure through eating migratory waterfowl is a concern even for hunters like himself who didn’t frequent the lake, Monjaras said it is no more of an issue than eating store-bought meat, catfish or even oryx. It is the reality of the food chain, he said.

“We’re a product of our environment,” he said.

(Story by Susan Montoya Bryan/Associated Press)