PEATT Cover Letter

Protocol, PFAS/viral infection, v1.0

Last Revised: July 19, 2021

Reading Level: 7.7

Appendix G1 – PEATT Cover Letter

LETTERHEAD/DATE

[Please note, this is intended to be used by the state health departments in NY and PA in order to recruit participants of the PEATT studies. This will be on the state health department letterhead, not ATSDR].

Dear [Insert Name],

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH) and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) are conducting a research study from [insert dates here]. The purpose of this study is to see if PFAS blood levels affect how often people in communities get sick from viral illnesses, including from COVID-19. In this package you will find instructions to enroll in the study – please consider doing so.

We are reaching out to you since [you/you and your child] took part in in a previous study where we partnered with ATSDR to test the PFAS Exposure Assessment Technical Tools (PEATT). For that study, [your/your child’s] PFAS blood level was measured. We have not shared your contact information with CDC/ATSDR, so we are contacting you on their behalf. If you consent to participate in the PFAS and Viral Infections study, CDC/ATSDR will be contacting you directly in the future.

This new CDC/ATSDR study is called Evaluating the Association between Serum Concentrations of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) and Symptoms and Diagnoses of Selected Acute Viral Illnesses. People who choose to participate in this study will be asked to complete a series of surveys that ask about viral illness symptoms they have recently experienced and diagnoses they have received. No new blood samples will be collected; ATSDR will use the previously measured PFAS blood level from the PEATT study. The surveys will be conducted in multiple rounds, over a period of one calendar year.

We are reaching out on behalf of CDC/ATSDR to pass along these invitation materials for your review and consideration. [For PA only, include the following: This is a different study from the Multi-Site Study, which you may have received an invitation to recently. Participating in the Multi-Site Study does not prevent you from enrolling in this study.]

Please contact Melanie Buser at xxx-xxx-xxxx or pfasviralstudy@cdc.gov if you have any questions.

Thank you,

XXXXXXXXXXX

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