CHARLESTON, WV — A state study, which was drafted more than a year ago but never made public, establishes that the rates of certain cancers are elevated in counties in which residents may have been exposed to the chemical C8 in drinking water, according to a March 14 Charleston Gazette article.
The acting commissioner of the state Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) was quoted in the article as saying that the study "was simply put aside and never finished."
DHHR scientists used state cancer registry data to compare disease rates statewide with those in counties in which there is C8-tainted drinking water; according to the article, the researchers found elevated rates of prostate cancer and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in two counties and high rates of leukemia and skin cancer in one of those counties, Wood County.
According to the article, DuPont Co. has a manufacturing plant in Wood County that since the 1950s has made and discharged C8, which also is known as ammonium perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) and is used to make Teflon™, other nonstick products, oil-resistant paper packaging, and stain- and water-repellent textiles.
Every month in Water Technology Magazine, "Professor POU/POE" answers reader questions about point-of-use/point-of-entry water treatment.
If you have a question for the Professor (also known as David Bauman, Technical Editor), send an e-mail to rdipaolo@ntpmedia.com and we'll pass it along. With your question, please indicate your general location (region, state, province, etc.). Not all questions will be chosen for publication.
Write for WT
Water Technology welcomes and encourages editorial contributions from the world of residential water conditioning, bottled water delivery, and treatment for commercial or light industrial applications.
To place a classified ad online, e-mail your ad text to pharrington@ntpmedia.com or call Pat Harrington at 518-640-9173.
Bookstore
WaterTechBooks.com is an online bookseller for the water treatment industry. It has dozens of titles in stock, in a variety of categories. A simple e-commerce platform allows you to complete your transaction online and have your books shipped directly to your home or business.
Every month in 
