C8 Science Panel Extends Deadline

The C8 Science Panel needs three more months to complete their work.


On Monday, members of the panel joined a status hearing in Wood County Circuit Court via teleconference to explain their request for more time.

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http://www.theanchornews.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1221:web-extra-c8-science-panel-requests-more-time&catid=2:community-news&Itemid=15

OEPA Acknowledges C8 Filtration Breakthroughs

Despite an earlier denial, Ohio EPA has confirmed that C8 has broken through local filtration systems on at least six occasions.

On June 6, The Anchor reported that C8 was still making its way into some local water supplies even after the installation of filtration systems intended to remove the unregulated manmade substance. C8, also known as PFOA or perfluorooctanoic acid, became a source of controversy in the Mid Ohio Valley when it was detected in six local water supplies – leading to a class action lawsuit against DuPont and a landmark health study intended to determine whether or not exposure may cause human disease.

In response to the public health concern, DuPont constructed industrial scale filtration systems for the impacted water districts based on carbon filtration – meaning that the efficiency of the filtration is dependent upon timely and fresh change outs of carbon filtration material.

Despite the installation of technology intended to reduce the concentration of C8 in local water supplies to non detectable levels, sampling results obtained from the EPA in May revealed that small but measurable amounts were breaking through some of the filtration systems – an indication that in some locations carbon change outs are not being performed frequently enough to prevent breakthroughs.

Read the full story at The Anchor:
http://www.theanchornews.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1188:special-report-oepa-acknowledges-c8-filtration-breakthroughs&catid=2:community-news&Itemid=15

C8 Detected in Filtered Water

Despite the installation of technology meant to filter C8, very small amounts can still be found dripping from the taps of households served by some Mid Ohio Valley water systems.


Sampling results obtained from the EPA reveal that small but measurable amounts of the controversial manufacturing chemical routinely break through some of the filtration systems. DuPont has provided the means to reduce the concentration of C8 to non detectable levels, but the court mandated process lacks regulatory oversight.


Read the story here:

http://www.theanchornews.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1176:web-extra-c8-detected-in-filtered-water&catid=2:community-news&Itemid=15

EPA Orders Nationwide Monitoring for C8

The US EPA is ordering the monitoring of public water supplies for a new list of chemicals, including C8.

The agency has standards for 91 contaminants in drinking water, and the Safe Drinking Water Act requires the EPA to identify up to 30 additional unregulated contaminants for monitoring every five years. Last week, the EPA released a list of 28 chemicals and two viruses to be monitored by about 6,000 public water systems as part of the unregulated contaminant monitoring program.

“The monitoring that will take place will provide EPA with invaluable information about what municipalities are seeing in their drinking water all across the country,” said EPA acting assistant administrator for Water Nancy Stoner. “The results of this multi-year monitoring effort will help inform EPA’s work to ensure Americans receive safe drinking water.”

The EPA will spend more than $20 million to support the project, which will provide a clearer picture of the frequency and levels at which these contaminants are found in drinking water systems nationwide.  It will also help regulators determine whether additional protections are needed to ensure safe drinking water.

Using methods perfected as recently as 2009, the EPA has called on all public water systems serving more than 10,000 people and 800 smaller systems to monitor for C8 over a 12 month period from January 2013 through December 2015. The reporting threshold for PFOA (also known as perfluorooctanoic acid or C8) is .02 parts per billion – or 20 parts per trillion – far less than levels detected in local water supplies.

The presence of the manufacturing substance in area water supplies lead to a class action lawsuit brought by Mid-Ohio Valley residents against DuPont who used the compound at nearby Washington Works in the production of Teflon since the mid 1950s.

To resolve the suit, the court appointed the C8 Science Panel – a group of three epidemiologists – to determine if it was “more likely than not” that exposure could be linked to disease.  In December, the science panel released their initial set of probable link findings and announced a link between C8 exposure and pregnancy induced hypertension. Last month, the panel linked C8 to kidney and testicular cancer. Their final reports are expected before the end of July. Consequently, a three-member medical panel has been appointed to determine what type of medical monitoring should be made available to the members of the class in response to the epidemiologists’ findings.

In the meantime, a federal lawsuit brought by the Little Hocking Water Association against DuPont over the contamination of their aquifer and wellfield is ongoing. 

C8 Linked to Cancer in MOV Residents

An independent panel of three epidemiologists have concluded that exposure to the manufacturing substance known as C8 or PFOA is linked to two types of cancer in Mid Ohio Valley residents.


The C8 Science Panel released their new findings on Monday morning. It‘s the latest development in the class action lawsuit brought by local residents against DuPont over the presence of the manufacturing chemical PFOA, or perfluorooctanoic acid, in their drinking water. As a result of the findings, a medical panel has been established to determine what type of medical monitoring is appropriate for class members.

What began as the C8 Health Project has become the largest study ever undertaken to determine the link between PFOA exposure and cancer. An analysis of 21 types of cancer yielded two probable link findings.



Read the full story in The Anchor:
http://www.theanchornews.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1096:web-extra-c8-science-panel-links-c8-to-testicular-kidney-cancer&catid=2:community-news&Itemid=15

New Findings Expected Monday

The C8 Science Panel will release their next set of probable link findings on Monday morning in Vienna, West Virginia. Health concerns to be addressed include diabetes and cancer.

The panel of three epidemiologists are wrapping up their work, which will determine the outcome of the Mid Ohio Valley class action lawsuit brought by residents against DuPont over the presence of the manufacturing substance, PFOA, in their public water supplies.

The term “probable link” is court terminology, not scientific jargon. Specifically, the C8 Science Panel was convened for the purpose of determining whether, given the available scientific evidence, there is "more likely than not" a connection between PFOA exposure and human disease in class members.

In December, the panel released their conclusion that there was an association between C8 exposure and pregnancy induced hypertension.  The panel is scheduled to release all of their findings by the end of July.

C8 Medical Panel Appointed

DuPont and attorneys for local residents who settled a class action lawsuit against DuPont in 2005 over releases of C8 or PFOA from DuPont’s Washington Works plant announced today that they have jointly selected a three member panel of independent, well-qualified and respected medical doctors – the “C8 Medical Panel” – to determine the nature and extent of whatever medical monitoring may be appropriate under the terms of the settlement.

Read the full story in The Anchor: 
http://www.theanchornews.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1094:web-extra-c8-medical-panel-selected&catid=2:community-news&Itemid=15