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Tracking the Health Impacts of C8 Exposure

Residents throughout the Ohio River Valley from West Virginia to Kentucky have been quietly living with the toxic legacy of a chemical known as C8.…

Residents throughout the Ohio River Valley from West Virginia to Kentucky have been quietly living with the toxic legacy of a chemical known as C8. Manufactured by DuPont, C8 was an important component of consumer products like non-stick Teflon cookware. But researchers now know that C8 exposure is linked to all kinds of health problems, including cancer. Recently, Sharon Lerner, who covered the issue in an 11-part series for The Intercept, talked with us about the key aspects of the story and how some Ohio Valley residents sought justice through a class action lawsuit.

The Allegheny Front: So what kinds of health problems were people experiencing as a result of C8 exposure?

Sharon Lerner: There is a panel of epidemiologists—people who study diseases in populations—approved by both sides, and they were tasked with figuring out what were the probable associations between exposures to C8 and disease. And they came up with six, [including] kidney cancer, testicular cancer, preeclampsia, high cholesterol and thyroid disease. What they did is they looked at the population and saw that throughout the population, those who were exposed at higher rates had increases in these six disease. Since then—and their final results came out in 2012—there are health issues connected to immunity, reproductive outcomes and obesity.

LISTEN: Tracking the Health Impacts of C8 Exposure

AF: You talked with one of the workers in the West Virginia plant whose son ended up with birth defects, and she wondered if that was related to working with the C8 chemical.

SL: That was the case with Sue Bailey and her son Bucky Bailey, who had facial deformities. Those were seen in some health studies as well, so she had good reason to think that they might be related. And actually, the number of mothers who were pregnant who were working in the Teflon division and had some birth defects was higher than it should have been. One of the main reasons I wrote about her, though, [was that] Dupont had this evidence and they didn’t share it with the EPA—which is why the agency sued the company. It was, at the time, the agency’s biggest fine that it had levied. So it became the first solid case of them withholding important evidence of the harms of this chemical, or things that should have at least raised concern and been shared with the public.

AF: Chemical companies are no longer producing C8 in the U.S. But now they’re making something called C6, which is also known as GenX. But many people think this is a “regrettable” solution. Why is that?

SL: I looked at the adverse incident reports, and I found that it had essentially the same constellation of health problems that were associated with C8. In lab animals, they found cancers, and they found effects on the liver and endocrine system as well.

AF: I think what is so striking about your series is that there really is no way for residents who live near these facilities to protect themselves—or even the average consumer to really know what they’re being exposed to. It’s surprising that the Environmental Protection Agency often doesn’t know very much what chemical companies, like DuPont, are making and releasing into the environment.

SL: Well, in the case of C6, they actually did have that information. Dupont did file the adverse incident reports, as they are required to by law. But the gap that I found was that when they reported it, there was no clear course of action from the EPA. One would assume they would take that information and act on it. Instead, the agency that’s supposed to be in charge of protecting the public from these kinds of dangers just filed them away.

AF: And it might not be all that shocking that people working or living near these chemical plants have high levels of these chemicals in their bodies. But research has shown that nearly all Americans have some level. So how can we avoid exposure?

SL: The big thing would be to not get stain-resistant coating on things and look into what’s on your stain-resistant clothing or tents or outdoor gear—that kind of stuff. While it wouldn’t be manufactured in the U.S. anymore with C8, it could be coming from other countries. And it very well could be manufactured within the United States with some of the replacements that are also thought to have some of the same health effects.

AF: And on a personal level, what are you taking away from reporting this story?

SL: One of the most upsetting things to me is how big it is. At every step, you pull the string and it keeps coming. I went deep on this particular chemical, and focused squarely on it. But this is only one type of perfluorinated chemical, and perfluorinated chemicals are only a small part of the toxic chemicals that are unregulated and affecting our health and that we’re exposed to all the time. And because of the way we do things, they’re out in the world way before we know what their effects are. So we have to do it backwards: We have to do it after the fact and look back.

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Check out Sharon Lerner’s 11-part series on C8 at The Intercept.

Why Reimagining the Ohio River Could Be Critical to the Region's Future

Interstate cooperation has been crucial to restoring waters in the Great Lakes and Chesapeake Bay. But so far, there hasn’t been much interest in marshaling a regional effort to improve the heavily polluted Ohio River. Those living along its banks from Pittsburgh to Louisville are beginning to realize the increasing value of this water, and how reimagining their relationship to it could prove critical to the region’s future. This week, we kick off a new series called Headwaters to explore what this new chapter in the river’s history could look like—and how we can get there.

Standing in downtown Pittsburgh, you can see where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers meet to form the headwaters of the Ohio River. It’s here where the Ohio starts its near-thousand-mile journey from Pennsylvania through five other states to the Mississippi River.

Along its banks, you’ll see green spaces and fishing spots. But the Ohio is best known as one of America’s “working rivers.” It’s lined with factories and power plants, and its waters are filled with barge traffic carrying coal from Appalachia. In fact, the Environmental Protection Agency says the Ohio is the most polluted river in the country. Some years as much as 24 million pounds of pollution have been dumped into its waters.

But there is increasing awareness among those who live along the headwaters of the Ohio that cleaning up the river could become critical to region’s health and economic future.

At a restaurant in the heart of a busy urban riverfront park, you can get a sense of the kind of planning it would take to write this new chapter in the Ohio’s history. The room is filled with researchers, technology geeks, water treatment experts, political and business leaders—and everyone’s talking about how water fits into the region’s economic development plans. But we’re not in Pittsburgh. This is the first annual meeting of the Cleveland Water Alliance.

Cleveland, of course, knows a thing or two about polluted waterways. It sits alongside both the Cuyahoga River—which has caught fire numerous times—and Lake Erie, which has been plagued recently with toxic algae blooms. But Cleveland is ahead of other cities when it comes to putting a value on its water—and how to leverage it to benefit the region.

“We’re starting to see the investment community pay attention,” says Alliance Executive Director Bryan Stubbs. “And so what we’re trying to do is get private capital engaged in this space. No longer is it just the state or just the city or just a watershed group. We’re now trying to have conversations with big money.”

Stubbs told Water Alliance members that the region added more than 200 water technology jobs in the last year. The organization is also working on patents related to water clean-up, and it’s launching a large-scale competition in cities around the Great Lakes to spur innovation in water technology.

High atop Pittsburgh’s southern hills, you can actually watch the Ohio River take form, as the waters of the Allegheny River collide with the Monongahela.

So if Cleveland’s starting to bring in big money around its water, some wonder why the same thing hasn’t happened yet in the Ohio River headwaters region.

“I don’t think it’s top of mind,” says Jerry Paytas, whose Pittsburgh-based consulting firm, Fourth Economy, recently looked into water’s role in the regional economy. “It’s not something people are thinking about. So in that regard, we’re not really valuing what the water can mean to us long term.”

The report he co-authored in 2011 nonetheless found that water is already having a big economic impact. Three thousand firms were providing components, products and services for water-related industries. And the region’s water supplies supported more than $24 billion of business in industries like agriculture, food processing, thermoelectric plants and energy.

The report also found that the Ohio River headwaters region has a unique opportunity to use its industrial strengths to grow a variety of water-related industries. But no one is yet coordinating a regional vision for the future of water.

“It’s been referred to as the ‘Wild West,’ because there’s no management of water,” says Deborah Lange, who heads up special environmental projects at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

After Paytas’ report came out, Lange helped facilitate a committee of experts from Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio to get the headwaters region prepared for “the future of water.” But that effort largely stalled. There just wasn’t much interest in a multi-state effort to create a vision for the watershed.

“Probably the biggest hurdle—and probably the reason we’ve been at this for 20 years—is that nobody wants another layer of regulation, approval and fees,” Lange says.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers maintains an extensive network of locks and dams on the Ohio River from Louisville to Pittsburgh. The system is critical to moving the enormous amount of freight that moves by barge and boat over the Ohio’s waters every year.

But Lange notes that many groups and agencies are already working on water issues in the headwaters region. On the state level, environmental agencies oversee permits for water withdrawals and regulate pollution. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers manages locks and dams on the Ohio River. There’s a group called RAIN, which collects real-time water quality monitoring data. And then there’s the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission (ORSANCO)—which works with all eight states in the watershed to meet water quality standards.

“We have all the pieces. We need that little push to begin to coordinate,” Lange says.

Having more regional coordination isn’t a new concept. Other watersheds have been doing it for decades. There’s the Great Lakes Compact, which governs use of water in the Great Lakes states. The Susquehanna River, the Delaware River and the Chesapeake Bay also all have multi-state commissions with planning authority.

But not the Ohio River.

And climate change could make that more important. While some areas of the country are expected to experience more drought, the Ohio headwaters region will likely see bigger rainfalls.

“Since we’re a water-rich area, a water-poor area could, in essence, stick a straw there at the point, and begin extracting water,” Lange says.

There’s no one lining up to suck water from the Ohio River—at least not right now. But Lange says the region should be preparing.

Community planner Jerry Paytas agrees. For him, clean water is essential to economic growth in all sectors. He says when tech companies like Google or Facebook are recruiting new employees to the region, they need quality drinking water—and a river clean enough for recreation.

“If we don’t manage the water withdrawals, if we don’t manage the water quality, it’s going to be very difficult to add people or grow the economy,” Paytas says. “So it may not be an economic driver, but it surely will become an economic break.”

This story is part of our Headwaters series, which explores the environmental and economic importance of the Ohio River. Headwaters is funded by the Benedum Foundation and the Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds, and is produced in collaboration with The Allegheny Front.

Toxic Legacy: 'Teflon' Chemical Sticks Around In Water Supplies

For more than half a century along the Ohio River, the chemical company DuPont provided jobs for thousands of people. One chemical they produced is PFOA, commonly known as C8. It was a remarkably useful compound, used in “Teflon” non-stick cookware, stain-resistant fabrics, and even in some food wrappers.

Over time, researchers have found that C8 is also toxic. DuPont and other companies phased out U.S. production a few years ago. Now it’s made in China.

But because the chemical can persist in water, communities along the Ohio River — and around the U.S. — are still grappling with the environmental fallout of contamination from C8 and similar chemicals. The ReSource generated a map using water testing data available from the U.S. EPA. It shows 12 water systems in 10 counties in Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia where these chemicals were detected in the water.

Explore your region’s water supplies now >>

The Environmental Protection Agency issued a health advisory this year for C8 levels in drinking water, and many of the water systems that detected C8 and related chemicals found them at levels lower than the EPA advisory. However, a growing body of science indicates that the EPA advisory level is not sufficiently protective of human health, and many researchers recommend far more restrictive thresholds for exposure.

Communities across the country are dealing with levels of contamination well above the EPA’s new advisory level. One community especially affected by this toxic legacy is Vienna, West Virginia.

Vienna, West Virginia

This summer cars lined up in Vienna, a town of about 10,000 situated along the Ohio River. People were picking up jugs and cases of bottled water. Their tap water had been deemed unsafe – laced with a chemical known as C8. There wasn’t some sudden chemical spill. The chemical company DuPont polluted water here over the course of decades. But the federal government says C8 levels it once overlooked in the water are now considered unsafe.

“Up until the EPA lowered the standard, it really wasn’t an issue for us,” said Vienna mayor, Randy Rapp. “Once they lowered the standard, then it became a problem.”

Rapp was talking about a new health advisory issued by the Environmental Protection Agency this year. It says C8 levels in his and other community’s drinking water are too high.

Residents in Vienna, West Virginia form lines to pick up bottled drinking water.

This problem isn’t new to the people we spoke with in line. They’ve heard about C8 contamination by Dupont for years. But for generations the chemical company has been the biggest employer around Vienna. Many people, like resident Charles Swisher, are quick to defend them.

“It’s not fair to isolate DuPont,” Swisher said, “because a lot of people did things back a few years ago that were unethical, unhealthy. The thing that we need to do now is to be more solution-oriented.”

DuPont isn’t in charge of those solutions. It created a spin-off company, Chemours, which inherited this environmental legacy.

In response to the EPA’s C8 advisory, Chemours is paying for installation, maintenance and monitoring of giant carbon filters. (Think of your home water filter, but on a huge scale.) Vienna Mayor Rapp says he has “no idea” how much cleanup is costing. Chemours also wouldn’t say. But according to the company’s public documents cleanup has already cost millions. And still, the water aquifer is expected to be contaminated with C8 for hundreds of years.

The Chemours facility, formerly the Dupont company’s site, in Washington, West Virginia.

Contamination Continues

Not everyone is defending the company. Larry Dale grew up around this part of the Ohio River, which is commonly referred to as “Chemical Valley.” His father and uncles all worked in chemical plants.

“My dad told me – and I’ll never forget this,” Dale said, “Find something else to do, but don’t work in a chemical plant.”

Dale listened. He’s a school bus driver and a retired preacher. But he and his family still live in the shadow of the chemical industry.

C8, or PFOA, was used in many consumer products, including Teflon pan coating.

In his rural back yard outside of Washington, West Virginia, Dale stands on top of a hill next to his greenhouse, and points to the next ridge over, at DuPont’s landfill.

This is where DuPont dumped over 7,000 tons of C8 sludge. It leached out, polluted streams, and killed nearby livestock in the late 1990s. It’s not the only source of contamination. If you ask anyone where the C8 comes from today that has infiltrated the water aquifer the answer is always the same: “Everywhere.”

Where Science Meets Policy

The contamination in this region eventually lead to a broad medical study of affected residents in the early 2000s. Over 30,000 community members were involved. The study linked C8 to multiple health problems from cancer to reduced immune function. A series of additional health studies followed, and further proved that chemical compounds like C8 – which used to be blown out of smokestacks and scattered across the Ohio Valley – are dangerous, even in small doses.

Dr. Philippe Grandjean, of Harvard’s Chan School of Public Health, has studied the health effects of C8.

“They stay in the body for a long time,” said Dr. Philippe Grandjean of Harvard’s School of Public Health. He’s an expert on health effects of perfluorinated chemicals like C8. One of his latest studies looks at long term effects of these chemicals on the immune systems of exposed children.

“While they harm the immune system today,” Grandjean said, “they probably also will down the road. And that’s exactly what we found.”

Specifically, Grandjean found vaccines don’t work as well in children exposed to C8 at levels similar to those found throughout the U.S.

EPA officials say the C8 advisory levels were calculated to protect fetuses during pregnancy and breastfed infants, and was based on “the best available peer-reviewed studies.”

But Grandjean says the EPA’s advisory doesn’t go far enough. He worries it could even create a false sense of security.

“The new water limits will essentially maintain status quo or if worse comes to worse, actually increase levels that are typical for Americans,” he said. “If you drink that a lot of that water that is permissible, many Americans are likely to increase their body burden.”

Last year a coalition of scientists from around the world called for limits on C8 production altogether. Health officials in New Jersey are suggesting that C8 levels should be five times lower than what EPA advises (at about 14 parts per trillion). Grandjean’s work and other scientific studies have recommended an acceptable level of 1 part per trillion, which is what the European Union recommends for surface water.

Different Communities, Different Responses

When the EPA issued its advisory level it triggered a range of responses from affected communities. For water systems like Vienna’s, where the levels were above the EPA threshold, action was required.

The city of Martinsburg, in West Virginia’s eastern panhandle, shut down one water-filtration plant in May after detecting high levels of PFOS. PFOS is a chemical related to C8 that was used in flame-retardant foams often used at military bases and airports. Martinsburg is home to an Air Force base which is investigating possible sources of pollution.

Many other water systems, however, detected PFAS chemicals at levels that fall somewhere in a range below EPA’s health advisory but well above what scientists such as Grandjean have recommended. These communities include: Louisville and part of Pendleton County, in Kentucky; Gallia County, Ohio; and Parkersburg, West Virginia.

“Whatever the Rules Are”

In Vienna, West Virginia, Mayor Randy Rapp just wants to get city’s water to the EPA’s acceptable level.

“I just try to live by whatever the rules are,” Rapp said. “When they tell us what our water quality has to be, that is what we attain.”

Meanwhile, DuPont’s spin-off company isn’t producing C8 anymore. However, the substitute for C8 It’s using variations of the chemical known to have the potential for many of the same ecological and health effects.

This story is part of Allegheny Front’s Headwaters series, which explores the environmental and economic importance of the Ohio River. Headwaters is funded by the Benedum Foundation and the Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds, and is produced in collaboration with Allegheny Front.