Clean Cape Fear to host GenX Forum with Scientists Wednesday

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Clean Cape Fear is hosting a forum called Water Wednesday along with Cape Fear Community College’s Sustainability Committee, this week.

The Water Wednesday forum will be from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Cape Fear Community College in the Lecture/Recital Auditorium (U-170) within Union Station.

According to a new release, this week’s forum focuses solely on the science behind GenX and other perfluorinated compounds recently discovered in our drinking water. Topics up for discussion include: What are these toxins? How can we remove them? How do they affect our bodies?

Two of North Carolina’s leading scientists on this topic will share their knowledge. Dr. Detlef Knappe is a professor in the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering at North Carolina State University and led the Sun et al water study which discovered GenX and other perfluorinated compounds were slipping through existing water filtration methods into our finished drinking water. Dr. Knappe will present further research on the compounds being discharged into the Cape Fear River by Chemours.

Dr. Jamie DeWitt is the associate professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University. Dr. DeWitt will discuss how exposure to these compounds affect the human immune system–including those most vulnerable like pregnant women, infants, and children.

This event is free and open to the public. Cape Fear Community College’s Union Station is located at 502 North Front St., Wilmington, NC.