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Researchers believe that C8 may be associated with changes in liver and immune function, as well as higher cholesterol levels in children, according to a preliminary analysis of data from a landmark new health study. By Staff writer
Researchers believe that C8 may be associated with changes in liver and immune function, as well as higher cholesterol levels in children, according to a preliminary analysis of data from a landmark new health study.
"These preliminary results are exactly that - preliminary," said West Virginia University researcher Stephanie Frisbee.
"Right now - first pass - it looks like there may be something there," Frisbee said Thursday. "There is something there that warrants further investigation."
Frisbee and other WVU researchers are poring over blood tests and other data assembled as part of a huge study of C8's possible impacts on the health of nearly 70,000 residents near the DuPont Co. Washington Works plant south of Parkersburg.
The C8 Health Project is a multi-year effort to examine the chemical's possible effects on mid-Ohio Valley residents. It is funded by major portions of a $107.6 million settlement paid by DuPont to settle a lawsuit alleging the company poisoned residents' drinking water with C8. The settlement is also funding a related examination by a three-person science team of possible C8 links to adverse health effects.
C8 is another name for ammonium perfluorooctanoate, or PFOA. DuPont has used the chemical since the 1950s at its Washington Works plant. C8 is a processing agent used to make Teflon and other nonstick products, oil-resistant paper packaging and stain-resistant textiles.
Researchers are finding that people around the world have C8 in their blood in low levels. Evidence is mounting about the chemical's dangerous effects, but regulators have not set a federal standard for its safety.
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