WMOA News

C8 in People = 106 X C8 in Water

Posted on: 08/08/2007

Even though the amount of C8 detected in Marietta’s water is less than 10 parts per trillion, experts say even low levels can significantly contribute to the exposure measured in people.

Since the manufacturing substance is bioaccumulative, it collects in people’s blood and takes years to leave the human body.

By studying the people of Little Hocking, Dr. Edward Emmett of the University of Pennsylvania was able to determine that for people who consumed Little Hocking water, the median level of C8 in their blood was 106 times the level of C8 in the water.

According to Emmett’s equation, the 7.9 parts per trillion found in Marietta water could contribute an average of 837 parts per trillion, or nearly 1 part per billion, to exposure detected in the blood.

Emmett’s most recent findings indicate that blood exposure levels decreased by an average of 26 percent after Little Hocking consumers began using an alternative source of water.

In a follow up to his 2004 study, this year Emmett resampled the blood of 67 percent of the original participants. He found that most residents had changed their residential drinking water source as recommended in his initial findings.

Most Americans already have a small amount of C8 in their blood, somewhere between 5 and 9 parts per billion, for reasons not yet completely understood. But, in 2005, Emmett released findings showing that Little Hocking residents had levels 60 to 80 times higher than the general population.