Maine prepares blood‑testing program for residents at addresses with PFAS exceedances; labs will bill insurance first

Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry staff described a forthcoming blood‑testing program for residents at addresses where DEP or DACF sampling shows PFAS exceedances and outlined the enrollment and billing process.

Eligibility and thresholds: Beth said addresses identified by DEP's LD 1600 study — where soil exceeds the residential remedial action guideline for PFAS or where water exceeds 20 parts per trillion (ppt) for the sum of six PFAS compounds — will be presumptively eligible for testing; non‑farm residents meeting those thresholds are eligible as well. DACF staff are preparing a mailing to those addresses and intend to set up an online portal or accept mailed responses so residents can indicate current and prior occupants for the last 10 years.

Testing process and privacy: Eligible residents would consult their primary care clinician, who would order the blood test; results would be returned to the ordering clinician. Beth emphasized that "DACF is not getting anybody's blood test results. I want to be very clear. Medical information is not going to be shared with the department." Laboratories contracted to perform PFAS serum testing will bill an individual's insurance first; any remaining balance will be billed to the PFAS Fund up to a set threshold so there will be no cost for eligible individuals for this testing, staff said.

Public‑health follow up: Maine CDC staff said they are pursuing rulemaking to make PFAS blood test results a reportable condition, similar to how childhood lead results are reportable, to enable toxicologists to follow up with individuals with elevated levels and to provide clinician and patient education about interpreting results.

Logistics and next steps: Staff said they are a week away from initiating contracting with laboratories able to test for a specified array of PFAS analytes and are preparing the mailing and portal for eligible addresses. No individual test results will be held by DACF; Maine CDC will develop clinician and public educational materials and handle public‑health follow up under forthcoming rulemaking.