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I am a pediatrician in private practice in Honolulu who serves local and military families. I have been following the informative articles in Civil Beat about the Red Hill fuel leaks, which should be declared a national disaster and federal emergency.

Over 100,000 people will be part of an experiment on humans that would never be approved by an institutional review board. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry sent a team from Atlanta to Honolulu for three weeks to investigate the impact on service members and their families.

Unfortunately, the ATSDR did not contact many local pediatricians or physicians who care for military and civilian families. We were also a little busy dealing with the omicron surge. Local and military physicians have received little guidance from state and federal agencies.

I want to raise awareness about the lack of response and support for children, family members, locals and military personnel who have had long-term exposure to water with jet fuel. This exposure is through drinking water, eating food, wearing clothing, sleeping on sheets, and being covered with blankets washed in water with jet fuel.

Infants and children have a larger surface area of skin that is exposed. Children’s developing brains, nervous system, and immune system are more vulnerable to the toxic effects of hydrocarbon ingestion.

Until last week, I was following the recommendations of the experts. Then I received a call from a concerned mother who told me of parents getting outside testing for jet fuel exposure who had levels of chemicals from jet fuel that were tens of thousands higher than usual. According to EPA documents, these compounds come from fuel, leaking fuel tanks, and seep into groundwater.

The current recommendations from the Hawaii Department of Health and the federal government are based on studies of jet fuel exposure via inhalation of aerosols and vapors or skin contact. There is no information about the acute and long-term effects in children, pregnant mothers or other humans drinking water with jet fuel.

As a concerned pediatrician, I want to know why this is not in the headlines. Is no news good news?

Cognitive Impairment

Last week, families living in Kapilina and Iroquois Point told me their water wasn’t affected. We need to get this information out nationally and make sure local residents know how to find out if they or their children ingested jet fuel in their residences, workplaces, schools, and day care centers.

People need to be aware that there are no published guidelines about long-term jet fuel ingestion or exposure. The symptoms of jet fuel exposure mimic many illnesses. They are often non-specific (e.g., headache, abdominal pain, dizziness, balance problems, auditory processing disorders, visual processing disorders, ADHD, cognitive impairment, aggression).

Imagine you are a first-time parent who has a 2-year-old. You go to your pediatrician and mention that they fall and trip a lot, are having temper tantrums, don’t listen, aren’t sleeping through the night and are cranky all the time. You also mention that they have been getting sick every other week since starting day care.

Why aren’t we declaring this a national disaster?

Yes, all of these can be normal for healthy 2-year-olds, but these are also symptoms of jet fuel poisoning on their developing brains, nervous system and immune system. Children can’t advocate for themselves. Parents were sick and tired too.

Your pediatrician or primary care provider may or may not recognize these symptoms of jet fuel ingestion. There are no readily available lab or neuro-cognitive tests and no treatment even if there were.

Why aren’t we declaring this a national disaster? Why isn’t this in the national and local headlines? Why aren’t we providing testing, monitoring closely and developing therapies to minimize long-term impacts on our families?