| Mid-Ohio Valley residents with greater levels of C8 in their blood tended to have higher levels of cholesterol, according to the first results from an official scientific panel studying the chemical's health effects on the community.
The three-person panel found the risk of higher cholesterol was about 50 percent greater among residents with more C8 in their blood, a report said.
Science panel members cautioned that they did not yet know if the increased cholesterol followed C8 exposure or the other way around, according to Ken Ward, Jr. in the Charleston Gazette.
"Despite the difficulty in interpretation, our findings are a cause for concern, given the fact that high cholesterol is known to be related to heart disease," the science panel said.
The panel also found that Parkersburg-area residents had an average of nearly six times more C8 in their blood than the average U.S. population.
A third briefing paper, the panel reported said it has so far found no link between C8 exposure and diabetes.
Researchers are examining data on more than 70,000 residents who gave blood and medical histories as part of two related reviews of C8's health impacts in the Mid-Ohio Valley.
Studies are being funded by a $107.6 million settlement paid by DuPont to resolve a lawsuit alleging the company poisoned residents' drinking water with C8.
Conclusion will be used to decide if DuPont has to fund a medical monitoring program for residents who drank contaminated water.
C-8 is used in making Teflon, and has been manufactured in Wood County since the 1950s.
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