GenX not found in blood, urine samples from residents living near Chemours

RALEIGH, NC (WWAY) — North Carolina DHHS officials announced that it has received results from blood and urine samples of 30 people who live near Chemours’ Fayetteville Works facility.

GenX was not detected in any of those samples.

The residents tested rely on well water. They were evaluated for the presence of GenX and 16 other per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS.

DHHS says the results were shared with the participants last week.

• GenX was not detected in any of the blood and urine samples.
• One PFAS was detected in one participant’s urine sample at close to the lowest level able to be detected; otherwise PFAS were not detected in urine samples.
• Nine of 17 PFAS tested for were detected in blood samples of at least one of the 30 participants. The other eight were not detected in any of the blood samples. Four PFAS were detected in blood samples from all participants (PFHxS, n-PFOA, Sm-PFOS and n-PFOS).
• The median, or midpoint, detection levels of two PFAS (PFHxS and n-PFOS) in blood samples of the 30 participants was higher than the median found in the U.S. population for those PFAS. Most PFAS were either not detected in blood or were detected at levels similar to available U.S. population levels

These findings cannot tell people where or how they were exposed to PFAS, which are a large group of man-made chemicals that have been used in industry and consumer products worldwide since the 1950s.

They have been used to make carpets, clothing, fabrics for furniture, paper packaging for food and other materials (e.g., cookware) that are resistant to water, grease or stains. They are also used for firefighting at airfields and in many industrial processes.

Scientists do not fully understand the cumulative health effects of human exposure to PFAS. It is not yet known what levels of PFAS in the body may be safe or unsafe, and this testing was not meant to determine if GenX or other PFAS are associated with any specific health effects.

However, the testing may help health officials better understand exposures in North Carolina and could inform future human health studies.

DHHS originally announced the testing in July, and around the same time, health officials began calling selected residents near the Fayetteville Works site to invite them to participate.

Residents with private wells that had the highest detections of GenX during the sampling were invited to participate. Participation was limited to 30 people due to CDC testing capacity.

A generic version of the letter sent to participants is available here.