Jamie DeWitt
PFAS found in blood samples of more than 1,000 people in Cape Fear River Basin
For more than a year, Laura Petersen has waited for the message to arrive. “I’m so nervous to open that letter,” she said at a meeting this week co-hosted by scientists from the GenX Exposure Study and members of the Haw River Assembly. Petersen and her family have lived in Pittsboro for 12 years. Every […]
Chemours plans to expand its Fayetteville Works site, but hasn’t cleaned up existing contamination
Chemours – the billion-dollar company responsible for contaminating the drinking water of hundreds of thousands of people in the Lower Cape Fear River Basin, the company that is challenging the EPA’s scientific findings that GenX is toxic, the company that after 28 months has yet to submit a revised corrective action plan to clean up polluted groundwater...
EPA: GenX far more toxic that originally thought, could prompt NC to significantly reduce health advisory goal
GenX, a chemical compound found in the drinking water of more than 1 million North Carolinians, is far more toxic that scientists originally believed, according to the EPA. The agency yesterday released a final toxicology assessment for the compound, showing that even lower levels of GenX in drinking water could harm human health, particularly the liver.
After passing the House, bill regulating PFAS in firefighting foam lingers in Senate
Lawmakers dedicated to eradicating “forever chemicals” from water supplies across the state filed three bills this session that would more stringently regulate PFAS, also known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. Only one has made it out of committee and has a chance of becoming law. While the larger, sweeping bills were aspirational, legislation regulating toxic […]
COVID-19 vaccine could be less effective in people with high PFAS levels in blood
The COVID-19 vaccine could be less effective in people with high levels of perfluorinated compounds — PFAS — in their blood, several scientists announced today. High levels of PFAS exposure is known to be linked to a “plethora of adverse health effects,” including immune system disorders, said Linda Birnbaum, a toxicologist and former director of the National […]
This Week in Pollution: An historic penalty against Chemours, plus more troubling science about PFAS
It was a big week for PFAS, although considering how widespread and durable they are in the environment, every week is big for industries’ estimated 4,700 perfluorinated compounds. First, DEQ explained in more detail its proposed consent order, developed in conjunction with Cape Fear River Watch, against Chemours for its profligate discharge of PFAS, such […]