2008 C8 Science Panel Makes Duplicate Data Available

The C8 Science Panel, chosen to determine whether C8 has a probable link with any disease, is now making duplicate copies of portions of the C8 Health Project data available to those Health Project participants who may have lost or misplaced their results. The duplicate data is for the level of C8 and the nine other related fluorocarbons measured in the C8 Health Project conducted in 2005-2006 by Brookmar. Dr. Kyle Steenland, one of the Science Panelists, says many participants have asked how they can obtain copies of their personal results. Those copies of the C8 data will be sent to the participants who have consented to be part of ongoing Science Panel studies, and write in with a request. About 2/3 of the C8 Health Project participants have signed such consents. Those who have already consented may request copies of their data by mail, by following the sample letter at http://www.c8sciencepanel.org/results.html. Those who have not consented may still do so by downloading the consent form at the website, sending it to the Science Panel, and at the same time requesting their duplicate results.

According to Dr. Steenland, letters recently went out from Brookmar, Inc., to those who had blood drawn prior to December 7, 2005, about a third of those who participated in the C8 Health Project. Those participants were sent corrected results. For quality assurance purposes, retesting was done on specimens obtained on or before Dec 7, and these achieved better results. This large number of analyses took some time and these corrected data have now also been given to the Science Panel. "We appreciate the patience of the community, as we have waited to get the best possible, corrected information to begin our work," Steenland said on behalf of the panel.

The C8 Science Panel has been created as part of the settlement agreement with DuPont concerning the presence of C8 in water supplies. The Science Panel is a panel of three scientific experts in the field of epidemiology, who will analyze the data collected by the C8 Health Project and alsoconduct a series of studies over the next one to four years. The community and worker follow-up studies are two of these studies. The three panelists were agreed upon by both DuPont and the plaintiffs. Included are Dr. Tony Fletcher, Dr. Kyle Steenland, and Dr. David Savitz. More information can be found at http://www.c8sciencepanel.org.

May 20, 2008

C8 Science Panel Begins Follow-Up Studies of Community and Workers

The C8 Science Panel, chosen to determine whether C8 has a probable link to any health effects, will begin sending introductory letters in the next few weeks to those involved in their community and worker follow-up studies. The introductory letters will be followed by interviews in the fall, in which study participants will be asked about their medical history.

Those two follow-up studies will provide evidence about whether C8 is linked to any health effects. Such follow-up studies, which track participants' medical history over time and relate disease to the history of C8 exposure, will provide some of the strongest evidence about whether C8 is associated with any disease. Approximately 40,000 adults in the community, who signed consents for the Science Panel studies at the time of the C8 Health Project, will be sent the introductory letters. About 6,000 past and present DuPont workers will also receive letters. Each participant will be compensated $40 after completing the first interview. Those will be conducted over an eight-month period beginning this fall. The interview should take about 30 minutes to complete. The same group will be given a second short interview in 2010, which should take about 10 minutes to complete. Participants will receive a $10 gift card after completing the second interview. Both studies will end in 2010.

There is still time to sign up to participate in the Science Panel community study, for participants in eh C8 Health Project (2005-2006) who have not yet done so. Those interested in participating may go to the Science Panel website (www.c8sciencepanel.org) and download the consent form, and mail it in to the address given for the Science Panel.

The Science Panel's work is independent of the earlier C8 Health Project. The one-year C8 Health Project was set up under the settlement agreement of a class action lawsuit, and collected data on blood levels of C8 in the community, as well as medical and demographic history of community residents. Data collection for that project, under the direction of Brookmar, Inc., was completed by mid-2006. The C8 Science Panel was also created under the settlement agreement. The Panel is made up of three scientific experts in the field of epidemiology, who will analyze the data collected by the C8 Health Project and conduct a series of studies over the next one to four years. The community and worker follow-up studies are two of these studies.

The three panelists were agreed upon by both DuPont and the plaintiffs. Included are Dr. Tony Fletcher, Dr. Kyle Steenland, and Dr. David Savitz. More biographical information may be found at www.c8sciencepanel.org.

May 16 2008

For Immediate Release May 16; For More Information: Lisa Collins, 304/483-1355

C8 Science Panel Responds to Release of Preliminary Results on C8

The C8 Science Panel, chosen to determine whether C8 has a probable link with any disease, is making a statement in response to recently released C8 results of preliminary analyses from WVU.

According to Dr. Kyle Steenland, one of the C8 Science Panel, "West Virginia University has recently released information from the C8 Health Project. These include some simple table and graphs relating C8 to several blood tests. These do not represent a thorough data analysis. Therefore, the C8 Science Panel does not believe they provide valid information regarding the presence or absence of association between C8 exposure and health outcomes.

The C8 Science Panel will analyze the data that serves as a basis for these reports in more detail. There is a possibility the initial impressions from these simple tabulations may change considerably when we evaluate the information more systematically.

The Science Panel's charge is to assess whether there is a probable link between C8 exposure to community residents and health effects. The Science Panel is the only entity that is charged by the Court under the terms of the settlement with evaluating and reaching conclusions on this issue.

We will make extensive use of the information collected through the C8 Health Project in 2005-2006. Besides analyzing the C8 Health Project data itself, we will also conduct follow-up studies of the C8 Health Project participants which will provide stronger information than the data from the C8 Health Project. The data from the C8 Health Project by itself is insufficient, even when completely analyzed, to draw any firm conclusions about whether C8 is linked to disease."

When complete, the Science Panel reports will be filed with the Court, published in academic journals, and shared directly with the interested public. Their first analyses of the C8 Health Project data will be made public later this year.

WVU researchers have analyzed the C8 Health Project data under a contract with Brookmar, Inc. Brookmar was set up as part of a Settlement Agreement following a lawsuit between community residents and Dupont. Brookmar conducted the C8 Health Project.

The C8 Science Panel was been created under the same Settlement Agreement but is independent of Brookmar and the C8 Health Project, although the Panel will be analyzing the C8 Health Project data. The Science Panel is made up of three scientific experts in the field of epidemiology, who will analyze the data collected by the C8 Health Project, administered by Brookmar in 2005-2006. The Science Panel will also conduct a series of studies over the next one to four years. The three panelists were agreed upon by both DuPont and the plaintiffs. Included are Dr. Tony Fletcher, Dr. Kyle Steenland, and Dr. David Savitz. More information can be found at www.c8sciencepanel.org.

Past Press Releases

For Media Inquiries, please contact Lisa Collins/Salter & Associates at lisacollins@suddenlink.net or
call her at 304/483-1355

Press Release April 30, 2007

C8 Science Panel Initiating Study of How Long C8 Remains in the Body

The C8 Science Panel, appointed by the Wood County Circuit Court to determine whether a link exists between C8 and human disease, is beginning a five-year half-life study of residents served by the Little Hocking and Lubeck water systems. The purpose of this study is to determine how quickly C8 is removed from the body once the chemical is no longer present in the water supply. The term half-life refers to the time it takes to clear out half the C8 in the body. Both Little Hocking and Lubeck water systems plan to begin using special filters to remove C8 from drinking water this year. The Science Panel has been collecting and examining background data on C8 exposure and health, including the data being made available by the C8 Health Project. This is its first field project involving efforts to collect new information from members of the community.

Those who participated in the Brookmar C8 Health Project and signed a Science Panel consent form may be contacted to participate in this study. In May and June of 2007, two hundred of those participants will be randomly selected and called with an invitation to participate in the half-life study. Those who are eligible and accept will be asked additional questions and asked to donate small amounts of blood during home visits on eight occasions over the next four years. Participants will receive $50 per blood sample.

By carrying out these repeated measurements, this study will provide much-needed details on the time C8 takes to be cleared from the body in the months and years after exposure stops. This will help the other Science Panel studies by improving estimates of past C8 blood levels. Preliminary results from the half-life study will be available partway through the study, and complete findings at the end of four years.

The three scientists chosen as the C8 Science Panel will each oversee individual studies throughout the course of the next several years. This study is being led by Science Panelist Dr. Kyle Steenland. Dr. Steenland is Professor at the School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Prior to coming to Emory, he worked for 20 years at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), which is part of CDC. The other Science Panelists are Dr. Tony Fletcher and Dr. David Savitz.

Dr. Steenland will be assisted by Dr. P. Barry Ryan and Dr. Scott Bartell of Emory University. Each Science Panelist establishes his own work team for the particular study being conducted.

More information on the work of the C8 Science Panel may be found at the website, www.c8sciencepanel.org. The C-8 Science Panel was appointed by the Wood County Circuit Court as part of the Settlement Agreement in a class action lawsuit, Leach, et al. v. E. I. DuPont de Nemours and Company to collect, examine, and analyze health data in order to determine if there is any link between C8 exposure and human disease. These activities include analysis of C8 Health Project data collected by Brookmar, Inc. using blood samples and questionnaires, as well as a variety of new studies aimed at answering specific scientific questions.

Press Release November 14, 2006

C8 Science Panel Describes Planned Studies

Nov. 14 - First results of the new research program in C8 and human health will be available early next year, according to two members of the C8 Science Panel, independent epidemiologists chosen by the parties to the C8 class action settlement to investigate possible associations between C8 and human disease. Dr. Kyle Steenland and Dr. Tony Fletcher were in Parkersburg, WV on Tuesday, November 14 to announce the beginning of their research and explain the various studies they will be conducting.

They have also met recently with several area residents. Steenland said, "We want to establish relationships that will help us with our work, and help keep the community involved and informed."

They also announced they are looking for more participants for their follow-up research. Area residents who participated in the Brookmar C8 Health Project, and did not sign consent forms allowing the science panel to contact them in the future, are asked to download those forms from the website, www.c8sciencepanel.org [click here], or pick one up at many local libraries and Par Mar stores. These should be returned to the Science Panel as soon as possible.

Steenland and Fletcher described their work as "the most comprehensive study of C8 and human health ever done." They plan to conduct ten separate studies, calling them important pieces of the overall picture that will help determine whether C8 is associated with human health problems. Eight studies will focus on diseases such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and aneurysm, immune function, liver and hormone disorders, and birth outcomes. Two studies will examine C8 exposure. The results of each study will be announced as each project is completed. The final results, incorporating the findings of all studies, are expected in 4-5 years.

Science panel members include: Dr. Tony Fletcher, environmental epidemiologist at the London School and Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; Dr. Nelson Kyle Steenland, Professor at the School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia; and Dr. David Savitz, Professor of Community and Preventive Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Savitz was unable to attend the news conference.

Complete details of each study, including a timeline of when results will be announced, are available here.



Press
Home The Science Panel Panel Members Press Community Study Summary C8 Study results C8 Test Results Consent Form C8 Health Project Links Contact	For Immediate Release For More info: Lisa Collins, 304/483-1355 May 27, 2008 2008 C8 Science Panel Makes Duplicate Data Available The C8 Science Panel, chosen to determine whether C8 has a probable link with any disease, is now making duplicate copies of portions of the C8 Health Project data available to those Health Project participants who may have lost or misplaced their results. The duplicate data is for the level of C8 and the nine other related fluorocarbons measured in the C8 Health Project conducted in 2005-2006 by Brookmar. Dr. Kyle Steenland, one of the Science Panelists, says many participants have asked how they can obtain copies of their personal results. Those copies of the C8 data will be sent to the participants who have consented to be part of ongoing Science Panel studies, and write in with a request. About 2/3 of the C8 Health Project participants have signed such consents. Those who have already consented may request copies of their data by mail, by following the sample letter at http://www.c8sciencepanel.org/results.html. Those who have not consented may still do so by downloading the consent form at the website, sending it to the Science Panel, and at the same time requesting their duplicate results. According to Dr. Steenland, letters recently went out from Brookmar, Inc., to those who had blood drawn prior to December 7, 2005, about a third of those who participated in the C8 Health Project. Those participants were sent corrected results. For quality assurance purposes, retesting was done on specimens obtained on or before Dec 7, and these achieved better results. This large number of analyses took some time and these corrected data have now also been given to the Science Panel. "We appreciate the patience of the community, as we have waited to get the best possible, corrected information to begin our work," Steenland said on behalf of the panel. The C8 Science Panel has been created as part of the settlement agreement with DuPont concerning the presence of C8 in water supplies. The Science Panel is a panel of three scientific experts in the field of epidemiology, who will analyze the data collected by the C8 Health Project and alsoconduct a series of studies over the next one to four years. The community and worker follow-up studies are two of these studies. The three panelists were agreed upon by both DuPont and the plaintiffs. Included are Dr. Tony Fletcher, Dr. Kyle Steenland, and Dr. David Savitz. More information can be found at http://www.c8sciencepanel.org. May 20, 2008 C8 Science Panel Begins Follow-Up Studies of Community and Workers The C8 Science Panel, chosen to determine whether C8 has a probable link to any health effects, will begin sending introductory letters in the next few weeks to those involved in their community and worker follow-up studies. The introductory letters will be followed by interviews in the fall, in which study participants will be asked about their medical history. Those two follow-up studies will provide evidence about whether C8 is linked to any health effects. Such follow-up studies, which track participants' medical history over time and relate disease to the history of C8 exposure, will provide some of the strongest evidence about whether C8 is associated with any disease. Approximately 40,000 adults in the community, who signed consents for the Science Panel studies at the time of the C8 Health Project, will be sent the introductory letters. About 6,000 past and present DuPont workers will also receive letters. Each participant will be compensated $40 after completing the first interview. Those will be conducted over an eight-month period beginning this fall. The interview should take about 30 minutes to complete. The same group will be given a second short interview in 2010, which should take about 10 minutes to complete. Participants will receive a $10 gift card after completing the second interview. Both studies will end in 2010. There is still time to sign up to participate in the Science Panel community study, for participants in eh C8 Health Project (2005-2006) who have not yet done so. Those interested in participating may go to the Science Panel website (www.c8sciencepanel.org) and download the consent form, and mail it in to the address given for the Science Panel. The Science Panel's work is independent of the earlier C8 Health Project. The one-year C8 Health Project was set up under the settlement agreement of a class action lawsuit, and collected data on blood levels of C8 in the community, as well as medical and demographic history of community residents. Data collection for that project, under the direction of Brookmar, Inc., was completed by mid-2006. The C8 Science Panel was also created under the settlement agreement. The Panel is made up of three scientific experts in the field of epidemiology, who will analyze the data collected by the C8 Health Project and conduct a series of studies over the next one to four years. The community and worker follow-up studies are two of these studies. The three panelists were agreed upon by both DuPont and the plaintiffs. Included are Dr. Tony Fletcher, Dr. Kyle Steenland, and Dr. David Savitz. More biographical information may be found at www.c8sciencepanel.org. May 16 2008 For Immediate Release May 16; For More Information: Lisa Collins, 304/483-1355 C8 Science Panel Responds to Release of Preliminary Results on C8 The C8 Science Panel, chosen to determine whether C8 has a probable link with any disease, is making a statement in response to recently released C8 results of preliminary analyses from WVU. According to Dr. Kyle Steenland, one of the C8 Science Panel, "West Virginia University has recently released information from the C8 Health Project. These include some simple table and graphs relating C8 to several blood tests. These do not represent a thorough data analysis. Therefore, the C8 Science Panel does not believe they provide valid information regarding the presence or absence of association between C8 exposure and health outcomes. The C8 Science Panel will analyze the data that serves as a basis for these reports in more detail. There is a possibility the initial impressions from these simple tabulations may change considerably when we evaluate the information more systematically. The Science Panel's charge is to assess whether there is a probable link between C8 exposure to community residents and health effects. The Science Panel is the only entity that is charged by the Court under the terms of the settlement with evaluating and reaching conclusions on this issue. We will make extensive use of the information collected through the C8 Health Project in 2005-2006. Besides analyzing the C8 Health Project data itself, we will also conduct follow-up studies of the C8 Health Project participants which will provide stronger information than the data from the C8 Health Project. The data from the C8 Health Project by itself is insufficient, even when completely analyzed, to draw any firm conclusions about whether C8 is linked to disease." When complete, the Science Panel reports will be filed with the Court, published in academic journals, and shared directly with the interested public. Their first analyses of the C8 Health Project data will be made public later this year. WVU researchers have analyzed the C8 Health Project data under a contract with Brookmar, Inc. Brookmar was set up as part of a Settlement Agreement following a lawsuit between community residents and Dupont. Brookmar conducted the C8 Health Project. The C8 Science Panel was been created under the same Settlement Agreement but is independent of Brookmar and the C8 Health Project, although the Panel will be analyzing the C8 Health Project data. The Science Panel is made up of three scientific experts in the field of epidemiology, who will analyze the data collected by the C8 Health Project, administered by Brookmar in 2005-2006. The Science Panel will also conduct a series of studies over the next one to four years. The three panelists were agreed upon by both DuPont and the plaintiffs. Included are Dr. Tony Fletcher, Dr. Kyle Steenland, and Dr. David Savitz. More information can be found at www.c8sciencepanel.org. Past Press Releases For Media Inquiries, please contact Lisa Collins/Salter & Associates at lisacollins@suddenlink.net or call her at 304/483-1355 Press Release April 30, 2007 C8 Science Panel Initiating Study of How Long C8 Remains in the Body The C8 Science Panel, appointed by the Wood County Circuit Court to determine whether a link exists between C8 and human disease, is beginning a five-year half-life study of residents served by the Little Hocking and Lubeck water systems. The purpose of this study is to determine how quickly C8 is removed from the body once the chemical is no longer present in the water supply. The term half-life refers to the time it takes to clear out half the C8 in the body. Both Little Hocking and Lubeck water systems plan to begin using special filters to remove C8 from drinking water this year. The Science Panel has been collecting and examining background data on C8 exposure and health, including the data being made available by the C8 Health Project. This is its first field project involving efforts to collect new information from members of the community. Those who participated in the Brookmar C8 Health Project and signed a Science Panel consent form may be contacted to participate in this study. In May and June of 2007, two hundred of those participants will be randomly selected and called with an invitation to participate in the half-life study. Those who are eligible and accept will be asked additional questions and asked to donate small amounts of blood during home visits on eight occasions over the next four years. Participants will receive $50 per blood sample. By carrying out these repeated measurements, this study will provide much-needed details on the time C8 takes to be cleared from the body in the months and years after exposure stops. This will help the other Science Panel studies by improving estimates of past C8 blood levels. Preliminary results from the half-life study will be available partway through the study, and complete findings at the end of four years. The three scientists chosen as the C8 Science Panel will each oversee individual studies throughout the course of the next several years. This study is being led by Science Panelist Dr. Kyle Steenland. Dr. Steenland is Professor at the School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Prior to coming to Emory, he worked for 20 years at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), which is part of CDC. The other Science Panelists are Dr. Tony Fletcher and Dr. David Savitz. Dr. Steenland will be assisted by Dr. P. Barry Ryan and Dr. Scott Bartell of Emory University. Each Science Panelist establishes his own work team for the particular study being conducted. More information on the work of the C8 Science Panel may be found at the website, www.c8sciencepanel.org. The C-8 Science Panel was appointed by the Wood County Circuit Court as part of the Settlement Agreement in a class action lawsuit, Leach, et al. v. E. I. DuPont de Nemours and Company to collect, examine, and analyze health data in order to determine if there is any link between C8 exposure and human disease. These activities include analysis of C8 Health Project data collected by Brookmar, Inc. using blood samples and questionnaires, as well as a variety of new studies aimed at answering specific scientific questions. Press Release November 14, 2006 C8 Science Panel Describes Planned Studies Nov. 14 - First results of the new research program in C8 and human health will be available early next year, according to two members of the C8 Science Panel, independent epidemiologists chosen by the parties to the C8 class action settlement to investigate possible associations between C8 and human disease. Dr. Kyle Steenland and Dr. Tony Fletcher were in Parkersburg, WV on Tuesday, November 14 to announce the beginning of their research and explain the various studies they will be conducting. They have also met recently with several area residents. Steenland said, "We want to establish relationships that will help us with our work, and help keep the community involved and informed." They also announced they are looking for more participants for their follow-up research. Area residents who participated in the Brookmar C8 Health Project, and did not sign consent forms allowing the science panel to contact them in the future, are asked to download those forms from the website, www.c8sciencepanel.org [click here], or pick one up at many local libraries and Par Mar stores. These should be returned to the Science Panel as soon as possible. Steenland and Fletcher described their work as "the most comprehensive study of C8 and human health ever done." They plan to conduct ten separate studies, calling them important pieces of the overall picture that will help determine whether C8 is associated with human health problems. Eight studies will focus on diseases such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and aneurysm, immune function, liver and hormone disorders, and birth outcomes. Two studies will examine C8 exposure. The results of each study will be announced as each project is completed. The final results, incorporating the findings of all studies, are expected in 4-5 years. Science panel members include: Dr. Tony Fletcher, environmental epidemiologist at the London School and Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; Dr. Nelson Kyle Steenland, Professor at the School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia; and Dr. David Savitz, Professor of Community and Preventive Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Savitz was unable to attend the news conference. Complete details of each study, including a timeline of when results will be announced, are available here.