PARKERSBURG - Documents filed recently with Wood County Circuit Court include progress reports dating back to 2005 for the independent C8 Science Panel.
The three-member panel was appointed by the court to review community epidemiology studies and studies of DuPont Washington Works employees to determine whether there could be links between C8 and human health.
C8 is an unregulated chemical used in the manufacturing process for Teflon. Plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit alleged C8 that DuPont Washington Works discharged into area water supplies caused ill health effects. As part of a settlement in the suit, an independent science panel, agreed to by plaintiffs and DuPont, was to investigate whether there is a "probable link" between C8 and human health.
Circuit Judge J.D. Beane this week conducted a private meeting with members of the science panel regarding its progress. The progress reports, which were filed with a variety of other court documents, have not previously been made public.
"The agreement states written or oral progress reports are to be made to the parties; they are not required to be provided to the court. The meeting was scheduled with the science panel and the court; it was my intention in filing the documents to be sure the court had all the relevant documents in front of him in the event any questions arose," said plaintiff's attorney Harry Deitzler.
The science panel reports outline collaborative meetings with other colleagues, establishment of an informational Web site, press conferences, hiring of a firm to handle media relations, procedural concerns, concerns over storage of blood samples for future use, meetings with West Virginia University officials, meetings with water district and EPA officials, and other activities.
"The science panel has openly communicated the design of its studies and schedule for completion. DuPont understands that the independent science panel remains on track to complete its studies between 2009 and year-end 2011 as reported on its Web site. DuPont continues to support the important work of the science panel," DuPont officials said in a written statement released Tuesday by Robin Ollis, external affairs spokesman for the Washington Works plant.
A summary notes the studies that will be conducted. One study focuses on C8 levels in the community, adult cholesterol levels related to C8 levels and diabetes in relation to C8 levels.
"These reports should be completed by the end of 2009. These reports will not provide conclusive evidence regarding whether there is a probable link between C8 and disease because one cannot determine whether C8 exposure preceded or followed the outcome of interest and in many cases the outcome is a biomarker and not a disease per se," according to the reports. A second study will include reports on immune markers and cancer prevalence.
"These reports should be completed by the end of 2009 and will provide useful evidence to add to the overall picture. Later reports by Dr. (Tony) Fletcher on non-cancer diseases such as kidney, liver and thyroid disease are planned to be completed by July to December 2010, after we have integrated historic exposure data and date of disease onset. Taken together with all the other data in the literature, these last studies on kidney, liver and thyroid disease should form the basis for making a decision about probable link between them and C8 in 2011," according to the report.
The third and fourth community and worker cohort studies "are progressing on schedule, with completion expected in 2011. Participation rate in interviews has been high, 90-95 percent. Subjects report a higher proportion of medical conditions which are to be medically verified than anticipated, which may result in a need for supplemental funds for these two studies," according to the report.
Studies five and six deal with birth outcomes and C8 health project data on births. These are to be completed in 2009.
"Both these studies, taken together, should provide sufficient evidence of whether or not there is a probable link between reproductive outcomes and C8 exposure prior to birth in 2010."
The seventh study deals with geographic patterns of cancer and is on target for completion in 2010. An eighth study is followup of C8 immune, liver, kidney and endocrine function, with results expected in 2010. Study nine is an exposure study. It has been delayed about a year, with results expected in late 2009.
The 10th study is a half-life study to be completed in 2011 and studies C8 levels after installation of water filters in Lubeck and Little Hocking water districts. Study 11 deals with neurobehavioral development in children and should be completed in 2011.
"Results of this study should provide evidence of whether there is a probable link between C8 and neurobehavioral development in children," according to the reports.
In a recent interview, science panel spokesman Dr. Kyle Steenland told The Parkersburg News and Sentinel "The C8 Health Project in 2005-2006 cost on the order of $70 million. Our studies will cost less. The C8 Science Panel studies will cost about $20 million altogether. Perhaps half of that has been spent so far. Most of the money for the Science Panel studies is spent on a contractor (Battelle) who is gathering data for us. For example, as you can imagine, it is expensive to interview 46,000 people (part of the community followup studies)."
