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CAPE FEAR MEMORIAL BRIDGE CLOSURE: UPDATES, RESOURCES, AND CONTEXT

GenX: Tap Water Results From Chemical Testing Unveiled in Wilmington

The first results from North Carolina State University’s testing of tap water in the region have been released. The purpose of the study:  to assess current exposure to GenX and related chemicals in people living in the Lower Cape Fear River Basin. Tuesday night researchers explained what was found in samples from 198 homes of New Hanover County residents.

Scientists from N.C. State University, East Carolina University, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have been working to develop the GenX Exposure Study, to assess whether GenX and related chemicals are detectable in the bodies of Wilmington area residents. A total of 17 fluorochemicals were tested for.

This week in the Lumina Theater on the UNC Wilmington campus, residents got some answers.

“We can also see that the Sweeney – Cape Fear Public Utility Authority has been reporting…. ”

N.C. State researcher Nadine Kotlarz presented the results, showing charts with chemical levels in the water supply.  

“If you follow the dot to the vertical axis, that will show you the concentration of that particular sample. So what we can see from this, is that most of the samples that were from households that are serviced with water from the Cape Fear River, had measurable levels of GenX. However the concentrations of the samples, the GenX concentrations in the samples were all below the 140 parts per trillion health value.”

However Kotlarz did report they have found newly identified compounds which could be at higher levels than GenX, and they are doing more research.

The blood and urine samples that the team collected from more than 300 area residents are currently being analyzed, so those results are not yet available.

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