CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Mid-Ohio Valley residents with greater levels of C8 in their blood also tend to have more of a bodily waste that has been linked to hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases, according to a new study from a panel investigating the chemical's health effects.

Increased concentrations of C8 and a sister chemical in blood were "significantly associated" with increases in uric acid level, according to a study summary made public Tuesday by the C8 Science Panel.

Lawyers for DuPont Co. and Parkersburg-area residents filed the summary in Wood Circuit Court, and the science team then issued a news release to announce its findings.

The three-member science panel is studying C8 as part of a settlement of a class-action lawsuit against DuPont over the poisoning of Parkersburg area water supplies with the chemical.

C8 is another name for perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA. It is one of a family of perfluorinated chemicals, or PFCs. The other best-known PFC is PFOS.

In West Virginia, DuPont has used C8 since the 1950s at its Washington Works plant south of Parkersburg. C8 is a processing agent used to make Teflon and other nonstick products, oil-resistant paper packaging and stain-resistant textiles.

Around the world, researchers are finding that people have C8 and other PFCs in their bloods at low levels. People can be exposed by drinking contaminated water, eating tainted food, or through food packaging and stain-proof agents on furniture or carpet.

Evidence is mounting about the chemical's dangerous effects, but regulators have yet to set a binding federal limit for emissions or human exposure.

The science team and a group of West Virginia University researchers - both funded by the DuPont settlement - are examining data on more than 70,000 Mid-Ohio Valley residents who gave blood and medical histories. It is among the largest such community studies on toxic chemical exposure in history.

In its uric acid study summary, the C8 study team cautioned "no firm conclusions about a causal relationship between PFOA and PFOS and uric acid can be drawn from these findings."

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Mid-Ohio Valley residents with greater levels of C8 in their blood also tend to have more of a bodily waste that has been linked to hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases, according to a new study from a panel investigating the chemical's health effects.

Increased concentrations of C8 and a sister chemical in blood were "significantly associated" with increases in uric acid level, according to a study summary made public Tuesday by the C8 Science Panel.

Lawyers for DuPont Co. and Parkersburg-area residents filed the summary in Wood Circuit Court, and the science team then issued a news release to announce its findings.

The three-member science panel is studying C8 as part of a settlement of a class-action lawsuit against DuPont over the poisoning of Parkersburg area water supplies with the chemical.

C8 is another name for perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA. It is one of a family of perfluorinated chemicals, or PFCs. The other best-known PFC is PFOS.

In West Virginia, DuPont has used C8 since the 1950s at its Washington Works plant south of Parkersburg. C8 is a processing agent used to make Teflon and other nonstick products, oil-resistant paper packaging and stain-resistant textiles.

Around the world, researchers are finding that people have C8 and other PFCs in their bloods at low levels. People can be exposed by drinking contaminated water, eating tainted food, or through food packaging and stain-proof agents on furniture or carpet.

Evidence is mounting about the chemical's dangerous effects, but regulators have yet to set a binding federal limit for emissions or human exposure.

The science team and a group of West Virginia University researchers - both funded by the DuPont settlement - are examining data on more than 70,000 Mid-Ohio Valley residents who gave blood and medical histories. It is among the largest such community studies on toxic chemical exposure in history.

In its uric acid study summary, the C8 study team cautioned "no firm conclusions about a causal relationship between PFOA and PFOS and uric acid can be drawn from these findings."

"Because of the fact that uric acid and PFOA/PFOS were measured at the same time, we cannot know if an increase in either PFOA or PFOS would lead to an increase in uric acid," the summary said. "Other possibilities include that both uric acid and these two chemicals increase in relation to some other unknown chemical in the blood, or even that an increase in uric acid in fact causes an increase in PFOA or PFOS for unknown reasons."

Previously, a study of DuPont workers also found slight increases in uric acid among employees with higher levels of C8 in their blood.

The C8 science panel's news release said, "Uric acid is a natural component of the blood, coming largely from dietary sources, particularly meat."

"Very high levels of uric acid can lead to gout, a form of arthritis, and high uric acid has been associated with higher blood pressure in epidemiologic studies," the news release said.

Uric acid is the end product of the metabolism of purines, which are building blocks of DNA, according to the National Library of Medicine. Most uric acid produced in the body is excreted by the kidneys. An overproduction occurs when there is excessive breakdown of cells, which contain purines, or an inability of the kidneys to excrete uric acid.

High levels of uric acid can also indicate alcoholism, diabetes, leukemia, and renal failure.

In October 2008, the science panel released its initial findings, a set of studies that linked greater levels of C8 to higher cholesterol and - so far - no link between C8 and diabetes. Those initial studies were supposed to be made public in early 2007.

Reach Ken Ward Jr. at kw...@wvgazette.com">kw...@wvgazette.com  or 304-348-1702.

Read the study summary

http://www.c8sciencepanel.org/