Online
at: http://www.mariettatimes.com/news/story/0927202003_new15exposure.asp
September
27, 2003
The
Marietta Times
(Ohio)
Examining the water we
drink:
Local C8 exposure tough
to sort out
By Callie Lyons
At the heart of the EPA investigation into PFOA, known locally as C8, are
many questions about possible pathways for human exposure.
The EPA is trying to find out how the manufacturing chemical became so prevalent
nationwide that it can be detected in the bloodstream of more than 90 percent
of Americans. Industrial emissions alone, such as those from the DuPont
Washington, W.Va., Works Plant on the Ohio River, cannot account for this
widespread phenomenon.
Robert Griffin, director of the Little Hocking Water
Association in Washington County, says it is likely his customers have the
highest levels of C8 exposure in the world. The manufacturing chemical
has been found in the air, water and soil of the water district.
"The EPA's concern is that it is in 92 percent of adults' blood,"
Griffin said. "The thinking is that they are probably getting it from
products. People in this community use the same products as people all across
the nation and have added exposures in water, air and soil."
It is generally believed C8 traveled to Little Hocking and other areas in
Western Washington, Meigs, and Athens counties by means of simple migration
through the Ohio River water and airborne emissions. However,
the path of disbursement is varied and inconsistent. In the case of Little
Hocking Water Association wells, those closest to the river have lower levels
of exposure. The well furthest from the river has the highest level of exposure.
Information compiled by the EPA indicates most Americans already exhibit
signs of exposure to PFOA, as evidenced by the detection of the substance
in their bloodstreams. It is a phenomenon science and industry cannot explain.
Limited access to fluoropolymer manufacturing plants for most of the population
has led agency officials to conclude that there may be additional sources
of PFOA in the environment, beyond those attributable to plant emissions.
Whether those sources are coming from the air, water, sediment, food or
other routes is unknown.
A multi-city study designed by Battelle Memorial Institute
of Columbus and analyzed at Centre Analytical Laboratories Inc.,
State College, Pa., indicates small, but measurable,
quantities of PFOA residue can be found in such foods as milk, ground beef,
bread, fruits and vegetables, whether or not the items were obtained in
a city with known exposure to the manufacturing chemical via plant emissions.
Consumer products made with fluoronated polymers are not believed to contain
C8 since the applications are typically treated with heat, which would remove
the PFOA from final products before finding their way into the hands of
consumers. However, agency officials are looking into fluorinated telomers,
which are not made with PFOA, but degrade over time to form it.
Telomers are small fluorine-containing polymers produced by a specific process
that utilizes the ability of certain chemicals to link together into chains
of a defined length, according to the EPA. Some data suggests telomers may
break down to form PFOA in the environment. Further,
it is suspected telomers may be metabolized to form PFOA inside living organisms.
"At present there aren't any steps that EPA recommends that consumers
take to reduce exposures to PFOA because the sources of PFOA in the environment
and the pathways by which people are exposed are not known," says the
EPA Federal Register Notice, signed April 14. "Given the considerable
scientific uncertainties, EPA has not made a determination as to whether
PFOA poses an unreasonable risk to the public."
