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C8 Panel Finds Probable Links To Diseases
By: Associated Press
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A science panel says a probable link exists between exposure to a chemical used by a DuPont plant in West Virginia and both thyroid disease and ulcerative colitis.
Attorneys for Mid-Ohio Valley residents released the findings Monday from the three-member C8 Science Panel.
The report found no links between the chemical, also known as or perfluorooctanoic acid, and several other health issues, among them stroke, asthma, and children's neurodevelopmental disorders.
In the study children's neurodevelopmental disorders, researchers found a slight increase in the IQ of children exposed to C8.
A similar inverse relationship was found in the connection between the effects of C8 on common infections. Panelists reported blood test studies showed no harmful relationship, but rather a slight decrease in the risk of infections in those exposed to C8.
"It's not surprising that a drug that is biologically active could have effects that are beneficial," said panel member Dr. Tony Fletcher.
In April, the panel found a probable link between the chemical and testicular and kidney cancers, and pregnancy-induced hypertension.
The panel was created in 2005 as part of a class-action lawsuit that claimed C8 contaminated water supplies in Ohio and West Virginia.
DuPont uses C8 at a plant near Parkersburg and plans to stop making and using C8 by 2015.