Funding at risk for Merrimack’s PFAS kidney cancer research

“Could this have happened just because I was drinking water?” asked Jon Duhaime, a lifelong Merrimack resident who was diagnosed with kidney cancer at 32.

Researchers from the state Department of Health and Human Services and Dartmouth College analyzed nearly three decades of cancer registry data from Merrimack and surrounding communities. They also evaluated whether it would be possible to do a larger study to determine the cause of the elevated rates.

Merrimack, a town of about 30,000, is nestled between New Hampshire’s two largest cities, Manchester and Nashua. Residents said they had seen it as a peaceful suburban town, ideal for raising a family — until the toxic chemicals came to light.

The contamination traces back to a factory in Merrimack, where PFAS, common in industry and consumer products, had been used for decades. Saint-Gobain, a French plastics manufacturer, purchased the factory in 2002 and continued to produce water-resistant materials and other coated textiles using the chemicals. Some were released through the factory’s stacks into the air, polluting groundwater and wells.

A state investigation found that more than a thousand nearby properties had PFAS levels in their water that exceeded state limits. The company ceased manufacturing in Merrimack in 2024, which it said was part of a broader restructuring of its operations in the United States.

Experts cautioned against interpreting the New Hampshire report as evidence of a causal link between the PFAS contamination and cancer cases. However, there is consistent evidence linking exposure to PFAS to an increased risk of kidney cancer. The International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organization, classifies PFOA, a common PFAS chemical detected in the water supply in Merrimack, as carcinogenic.

Joseph Braun, an epidemiologist at Brown University with expertise in PFAS, said, “Even down to the lowest doses that we measure in these studies, the risk of cancer seems to increase with every increment of exposure.”

Researchers found 59 cases of kidney cancer in Merrimack between 2013 and 2021 — about 38 percent more than would be expected. They also observed slightly more kidney cancers than expected in Manchester.

Duhaime was one of these cases. In 2019, he received a shocking diagnosis after having medical imaging done for a gastrointestinal problem: early-stage kidney cancer. His doctors ordered genetic testing because he was so young, and everything came back clear.

Duhaime, a nurse practitioner, remembered telling himself, “With cancer, sometimes there’s no rhyme or reason, and you get unlucky.”

But when he saw news reports of increased kidney cancer rates in the area, he began to think differently. He asked his doctors, “Do you think I could be one of those cases?”

He had a portion of his kidney removed and has made it past the five-year mark without a recurrence. The study results, he said, are affirming.

“There’s facts,” he said. “There’s statistics. It’s not just hearsay anymore.”

The next phase of research would seek to determine a cause, or causes, for the elevated cancer rates. The team would look into PFAS, as well as known risk factors for kidney cancer such as smoking and high blood pressure and other contaminants in the area, according to Megan Romano, a Dartmouth epidemiologist and study co-author.

But that work is contingent on the scientists obtaining funding, no easy feat. A large-scale study could cost $500,000 or more per year for at least five years. Romano said the federal funding landscape is uncertain, and the state does not currently plan to fund the final phase of research.

“We’re seeing a really big shift in the way that many different aspects of biomedical research are prioritized,” she said.

The Trump administration has pledged to target PFAS contamination but has slashed grants to research these chemicals and rescinded drinking water standards for four types of PFAS implemented by President Biden.

Romano said the team is also looking at less-traditional funding streams.

“We do have a good track record for funding,” she said. “I think it’s a matter of how long it’s going to take.”

The recent study was funded as a result of a bill introduced by a state lawmaker from Merrimack. The lawmaker, Representative Nancy Murphy, raised six children in the town. Several developed thyroid issues, including a son who was diagnosed with the autoimmune disorder Graves’ disease at 14 and lost 55 pounds in two months. The PFAS contamination drove her into politics.

Murphy said she will introduce a bill to fund the final phase of the study if she wins re-election in November 2026. (The filing period is over for the current session.) But she is worried her fellow lawmakers are “tapped out.” The last study cost $500,000 and received some pushback on the expense. Amid a tight budget, she said, she worries the number for the final phase will be seen as “impossible.”

“People say, ‘Well, you’re just worried about Merrimack,’” she said. “They don’t see how many communities across the country are impacted by PFAS contamination of their drinking water, air, and soil.”

PFAS are troublingly prevalent in drinking water, including in New England. A federal study found that these chemicals taint nearly half of the nation’s tap water, affecting tens of millions of Americans.

In Westminster, a town in central Massachusetts, state officials say a composting facility probably spread massive amounts of PFAS across the town, contaminating wells with chemicals that far exceeded state limits. On Nantucket, where PFAS have been found in pockets across the island, the town has hired a full-time employee focused solely on PFAS — the first of its kind in the country.

Katherine Reeves, an epidemiologist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst who has studied the impact of PFAS on human health, cautioned that even if the study is funded, the bigger challenge would be to pinpoint a cause.

The researchers would probably be unable to obtain PFAS exposure measurements from before the cancers were diagnosed, and PFAS concentrations in blood samples after cancer diagnoses have limited value, she said. She added that the number of cases could also be too small to provide reliable estimates of associations.

“Definitive answers about what could be causing the increased kidney cancer rates will be very challenging to come by,” she said.

Laurene Allen, who cofounded Merrimack Citizens for Clean Water in response to the pollution, said results linking the cancer cases to PFAS could inform health interventions in Merrimack and open the door for policies to protect other communities from going through a similar ordeal. But even without a study, she said, residents know the harms they’ve endured.

“For almost 10 years, residents have seen patterns and recognized that this could only be through exposure,” she said. “We know what we see.”

Kate Selig can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on X @kate_selig.