The North Carolina Science Advisory Board is holding meetings today at UNCW. Members are discussing the Cape Fear River and emerging contaminants that are not regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency. There’s also an interim report on GenX.
The board of 16 experts in toxicology, public health, ecology, engineering and other related fields are studying ways to better protect North Carolina’s environment from new and emerging contaminants, including GenX and hexavalent chromium.
Meanwhile in Raleigh, scientists are now examining the blood and urine samples from Wilmington residents collected last month. Dr. Jane Hoppin is the deputy director of the Center for Human Health and the Environment at NC State.
“Hopefully we’ll be able to talk about whether the levels of GenX in the population in Wilmington, and hopefully then also what are the factors that predict it. Do men have higher levels than women, do people who have lived in Wilmington longer have higher levels. All those kinds of factors we should be able to tease out”
Hoppin says almost 400 residents are participating. Preliminary results should be released in February or March.