State and federal health officials want to test whether neighbors of a chemical company near Fayetteville are carrying little-understood industrial compounds in their bodies.
North Carolina's Department of Health and Human Services said Tuesday it is working with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Bladen and Cumberland county health departments to test up to 30 residents living around a Chemours company plant south of Fayetteville.
Officials plan to check the blood and urine of residents for GenX — a chemical compound that's had little testing or regulation — and 16 related chemicals. The state health agency says the results will allow comparisons to levels of those chemicals detected in people elsewhere, but won't clarify whether such chemicals have specific health effects.
The sampling comes after the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality directed Chemours to test drinking water from wells near the company's Fayetteville plant. The results showed GenX levels above the state's water quality goal.
Test results will be shared with the adults and children participating.
