University of Cincinnati researchers found in a recent study that Tristate residents have a higher level of a chemical in their bodies, likely due to industrial discharge into the Ohio River.
The study is significant because it’s the first to look at levels of historic levels of PFOA in adults, Susan Pinney said.
For residents of the Ohio River Valley, the UC study found that a DuPont manufacturing plant and its two landfills located upriver in West Virginia are likely the sources of the contamination.
The study found high PFOA levels in girls from Northern Kentucky, which led to Pinney studying levels in adults living in the area.
At the DuPont Washington Works plant, the source of contamination in the Ohio River, the chemical was used to make Teflon coating, Pinney said.
Another new study, released in June by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) and Northeastern University, found PFCs in the tap water of more than 15 million people across 27 states.
According to USA TODAY, an industry risk assessor hired by DuPont found that the company dumped more than 1.7 million pounds of PFOA into the environment between 1951 and 2003.
We don’t know," Pinney said.
‘ Pinney said.
"Because the elimination time could be several years, it is hard to determine what impact these environmental exposures may have on our health and children’s health,” Pinney said.