Environment

Residents Near Chemours Plant Will Be Tested For GenX

88.5 WFDD - Public Radio For The Piedmont | By Associated Press,

Published July 17, 2018 at 4:17 PM EDT

A sign at the entrance of the Fayetteville Works site on N.C. 87 in Bladen County, North Carolina. Credit Rusty Jacobs/WUNC

North Carolina and federal health officials want to test whether neighbors of a chemical company are carrying little-understood industrial compounds in their bodies.

The state Department of Health and Human Services said Tuesday it is working with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Bladen and Cumberland county health departments to test dozens of volunteers living around a Chemours Co. plant south of Fayetteville.

Officials plan to check the blood and urine of up to 30 residents for GenX and 16 related chemicals.

GenX is used to make non-stick cookware and other products.

The state health agency says the results will allow better comparisons to levels detected in people elsewhere, but won't clarify whether GenX and related chemicals have specific health effects.

Test results will be shared with the adults and children who participate.

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Keri Brown

Keri Brown is a multi-award winning reporter and host at 88.5 WFDD. She has been honored with two regional Edward R. Murrow awards for her stories about coal ash, and was named the 2015 radio reporter of the year by the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas (RTDNAC).Although she covers a variety of topics, her beats are environmental and education reporting.Keri comes to the Triad from West Virginia Public Broadcasting, where she served as the Chief Bureau Reporter for the Northern Panhandle. She produced stories for the state's Public Television and Radio programs and was honored by the West Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters Association for her feature and enterprise reporting.She also served as an adjunct instructor at Wheeling Jesuit University and Bethany College in West Virginia. She worked with the Center for Educational Technologies in Wheeling, WV, and other NASA centers across the country to develop several stories about the use of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts in the classroom.Keri's journalism career began at WTRF-TV 7 in Wheeling. She worked in several roles at the station, including the head assignment editor. She also was a field producer and assignment manager at WPGH-TV Fox 53 in Pittsburgh.Keri is a graduate of Ohio University. When she's not in the studio or working on a story, she enjoys watching college football with her family, cooking, and traveling.Keri is always looking for another great story idea, so please share them with her. You can follow her on Twitter @kerib_news.

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Residents Near Chemours Plant Will Be Tested For GenX

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