The C8 Science Panel, appointed by the Wood County Circuit Court to determine whether a link exists between C8 and human disease, is beginning a five-year half-life study of residents served by the Little Hocking and Lubeck water systems. The purpose of this study is to determine how quickly C8 is removed from the body once the chemical is no longer present in the water supply. The term half-life refers to the time it takes to clear out half the C8 in the body. Both Little Hocking and Lubeck water systems plan to begin using special filters to remove C8 from drinking water this year. The Science Panel has been collecting and examining background data on C8 exposure and health, including the data being made available by the C8 Health Project. This is its first field project involving efforts to collect new information from members of the community.
Those who participated in the Brookmar C8 Health Project and signed a Science Panel consent form may be contacted to participate in this study. In May and June of 2007, two hundred of those participants will be randomly selected and called with an invitation to participate in the half-life study. Those who are eligible and accept will be asked additional questions and asked to donate small amounts of blood during home visits on eight occasions over the next four years. Participants will receive $50 per blood sample.
By carrying out these repeated measurements, this study will provide much-needed details on the time C8 takes to be cleared from the body in the months and years after exposure stops. This will help the other Science Panel studies by improving estimates of past C8 blood levels. Preliminary results from the half-life study will be available partway through the study, and complete findings at the end of four years.
The three scientists chosen as the C8 Science Panel will each oversee individual studies throughout the course of the next several years. This study is being led by Science Panelist Dr. Kyle Steenland. Dr. Steenland is Professor at the School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Prior to coming to Emory, he worked for 20 years at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), which is part of CDC. The other Science Panelists are Dr. Tony Fletcher and Dr. David Savitz.
Dr. Steenland will be assisted by Dr. P. Barry Ryan and Dr. Scott Bartell of Emory University. Each Science Panelist establishes his own work team for the particular study being conducted.
More information on the work of the C8 Science Panel may be found at the website, www.c8sciencepanel.org. The C-8 Science Panel was appointed by the Wood County Circuit Court as part of the Settlement Agreement in a class action lawsuit, Leach, et al. v. E. I. DuPont de Nemours and Company to collect, examine, and analyze health data in order to determine if there is any link between C8 exposure and human disease. These activities include analysis of C8 Health Project data collected by Brookmar, Inc. using blood samples and questionnaires, as well as a variety of new studies aimed at answering specific scientific questions.
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