Scientists Back N.C.'s GenX Health Goal
By Sara Jerome,
@sarmje
North Carolina has taken a step forward in setting limits on GenX, an industrial contaminant that has been found in drinking water in the state.
The development comes from the Secretaries’ Science Advisory Board (SAB), a scientific board that consults with health officials the state environmental agency, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
SAB has backed 140 parts per trillion as an appropriate GenX threshold, Star News Online reported. The decisions mean that the SAB has rejected industry pressure to set the limit significantly higher.
“State regulators first set this level in July of last year, soon after the public learned GenX was found in the Cape Fear River and municipal water supplies downstream from the Chemours plant. In backing that threshold,” WRAL reported.
The contaminant was found “in treated water used by 200,000 customers in Wilmington 100 miles downstream and at hundreds of wells around the plant,” the Associated Press reported.
Chemours had sought a significantly higher GenX threshold.
“The company had called for 70,000 parts per trillion, which was more in line with the health goal initially set by state officials, then lowered after another study on the chemical became available. The current North Carolina health goal is similar to one set in the Netherlands, where another Chemours plant is located and whose scientists the North Carolina board consulted,” the report stated.
The SAB outlined its opinion in a draft report, according to Star News Online.
“The board commends the use of the current reference dose and provisional health goal developed by (the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services) as the foundation for protecting affected and sensitive populations and providing corresponding risk assessments and advice,” the draft stated.
GenX is a persistent and toxic industrial chemical used to replace PFOA. “DuPont introduced GenX in 2009 to replace PFOA, a compound it used to manufacture Teflon and coatings for stain-resistant carpeting, waterproof clothing, and many other consumer products,” The Intercept reported. Chemours is a spin-off of Dupont.