ELIZABETHTOWN — Researchers with N.C. State University’s GenX exposure study will begin working on testing residents around the Chemours plant.
Jane Hoppin, a Center for Human Health and the Environment associate professor at N.C. State, said that participants are still needed for the study. Two new techniques that were not done in an earlier study, Hoppins said, are interior dust testing and silicone wristbands.
“We got a supplemental grant to look at the people who live around the plant,” Hoppins said, adding that Hurricane Florence delayed the schedule.
“So what we are doing is we are recruiting people, anybody whose well was sampled by either Department of Environmental Quality or Chemours,” she said.
The researchers are pulling from a list that DEQ has and they are sampling from that list, breaking them down into two groups.
The groups are separated by those with wells measuring above and below 140 parts per trillion.
“Then we randomly created those lists and we are calling people to recruit them for the study,” Hoppin said.
Testing done was done first in New Hanover County.
“We are going to be doing the blood collection at the Cumberland County Health Department the weekend of Feb. 8,” she said. “We are calling people, and people are calling our study line so we are trying to call people back as soon as possible.”
The protocol from testing in Wilmington is being replicated.
“We will collect blood and urine and we will analyze those,” she said.
Previously, blood samples for about 23 different PFAS were analyzed; about a dozen were detected, she said. PFAS is an acronym for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances.
“They include GenX, Nafion byproducts, and other chemicals,” Hoppin said. “It will be more expansive than what the state did in their 30-person study.”
Mike Watters, who has followed the investigations closely since the StarNews first reported GenX in the Cape Fear River in June 2017, said the state did 30 people around the plant tied in with the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.
“A lot of us were complaining to them about it,” he said.
The researchers are also going to go to people’s homes and collect water from their well and their tap.
“That way we can characterize the source, which is the well, and how efficient, if anything their treatment is,” she said. “We will also collect dust samples from people’s houses. That is a good marker of what’s been in the air.”
Some participants will also wear silicone wristbands.
“Silicone wristbands, like the Livestrong wristbands, they pick up a lot of stuff and are easy to wear,” she said. “That will let us look at ambient levels of various PFAS. We will have a fuller picture. We will have what’s in your body today, what’s in your house today.”
Up to four people in a household can participate, including children.
“We are hoping that will give us more information about the breadth of what is going on,” she said. “Hopefully we will have a big weekend and have everyone scheduled, and if not we will be calling until we fill all of our spots.”
Enrollment will stop when the cap of 230 people is reached. For more information contact the study office at 855-854-2641 or [email protected].