The Studies At A Glance
No single epidemiologic study is sufficient to determine whether C8 damages health. The Science Panel has designed a series of different kinds of studies which are described briefly below. These studies will generally begin in late 2006 and will end anywhere from one year to five years later. Some of theses studies will be based on already collected information, while others will require collection of new information, including interviews and blood samples. Any information gathered on individuals will be kept confidential by the Science Panel. In many cases a study will require a team of investigators, but in all studies a member of the Science Panel will oversee the conduct of each specific the study. Furthermore, the Science Panel as a whole will review all studies.
Choose from the list to jump to specific study:
- Cardiovascular risk factors measured in the blood
- The Immune Function, Liver, Hormone Disorders and Cancer Prevalence Study Based on the C8 Health Project
- The Community Follow-Up Study
- The Worker Follow-up Study
- The Study of Birth Outcomes in the Mid-Ohio Valley
- The Study of Birth Outcomes among the C8 Health Project Participants
- The Geographic Patterns of Cancer Study
- Follow-up Study on Immune Function, Liver and Hormone Disorders
- The Exposure Study
- The Half-life Study
- Neurobehavioral Development Study
1. Cardiovascular risk factors measured in the blood
(Investigator - Kyle Steenland)
The C8 Health Project carried out by Brookmar gathered information from August 2005 to July 2006 and analyzed blood for C8 level, cholesterol, insulin, glucose, etc. In this study, we will look at the data already collected from approximately 55,000 participants over age 20 to determine whether the results of some tests related to heart disease, such as total cholesterol, triglycerides, uric acid, red blood cell counts, glucose, and others, are associated with C8 blood level.
Timeline: Data collection complete - data to be provided to Science Panel in 2007, first results in 2008
For more details on the Cardiovascular Risk Factors Measured in the Blood, click here
top2. The Immune Function, Liver, Hormone Disorders and Cancer Prevalence Study Based on the C8 Health Project
(Investigator - Tony Fletcher)
The C8 Health Project done by Brookmar analyzed
blood for roughly 69,000 participants, including
indicators of immune function, liver and hormone
disorders, and levels of C8. This study will look in
depth at this information. They also filled out a
questionnaire, and we will look at the self-reported
disease the participants listed in the questionnaire
on cancers and diseases related to problems with
the immune system, the liver, and the endocrine
or hormone regulation system. Using this information we will look at the relationships between C8
blood levels and the above outcomes taking into
consideration factors such as age, sex, smoking
and obesity for each participant. The first phase of
analyses will use the C8 concentrations measured
at the time of the C8 Health Project, and a later
phase will take the results of the half-life study
(see #10 below) to estimate past C8 concentrations and relate these to past disease.
Timeline:
data collection complete, data to be provided to Science Panel in 2007, first results in 2009
For more details on The Immune Function, Liver and Hormone Disorders Study based on the C8 Health Project, click here
3. The Community Follow-up Study
(Investigator - Kyle Steenland)
We will look at new diseases occurring for such
endpoints as cancer, heart disease, and diabetes,
among adults who participated in the C8 Health
Study. We will follow approximately 37,000 adults
(a subset of the original 70,000 participants residing in the six water districts) for four years to see
what happens overtime, since not all diseases
show up right away. We'll collect information on
new diseases using a questionnaire, and by reviewing medical records (with permission). We'll also
look at state cancer registries and death records
for new diseases occurring in that four-year period.
We will then compare the rate of new disease here
with other Americans having little to no C8 exposure.
Timeline: data collection now to 2010, results in 2011.
For more details on the Community Follow-up Study, click here
4. The Worker Follow-up Study
(Investigator - Kyle Steenland)
DuPont is studying 6,000 Washington Works plant
workers (who worked anytime between January 1,
1952 and December 31, 2001) to see if they have
died of certain diseases at a higher rate than
expected. We will do a separate study, following these workers for about four years to determine what diseases they have had, with special
interest in cancer, heart disease and diabetes.
We will interview workers about their medical histories
and things like marital status, smoking and alcohol
history, and level of education. We'll review medical
records (with permission), state cancer registries,
and we'll interview relatives of workers who have
died. We'll compare the rate of new disease
among these workers with others having little to
no C8 exposure.
Timeline: data collection now to 2010,
results in 2011
For more details on the Worker Follow-up Study, click here
5. The Study of Birth Outcomes in the Mid-Ohio Valley
(Investigator - David Savitz)
This study will determine whether birth outcomes, including stillbirth, preterm birth (early delivery), and birth weight, are related to C8 exposure. We will gather information from the Ohio and West Virginia state health department Vital Records offices on births in the Mid-Ohio Valley. Using information on where the mother lived when she gave birth, we will estimate how much C8 she was exposed to while pregnant. From this analysis, we can learn whether mothers with more estimated C8 exposure had a higher risk of having worse birth outcomes.
Timeline: data collection 2007 through early 2008, analysis 2008, results 2009
For more details on the Study of Birth Outcomes in the Mid-Ohio Valley, click here
6. The Study of Birth Outcomes among the
C8 Health Project Participants
(Investigator - David Savitz)
This study also looks at whether birth outcomes are related to C8 exposure among the C8 Health Project participants. In addition to the birth outcomes examined in the Mid-Ohio Valley Community Study (stillbirth, preterm birth, birth weight), in this study we will also look at miscarriage, pregnancy complications like preeclampsia (high blood pressure during pregnancy), and birth defects among newborn babies. Women in the C8 Health Project answered questions about their pregnancies in the original survey. We will use this information from the questionnaire, and link to information from the birth records kept by Ohio and West Virginia health departments for those women who provided consent to do so. Another Science Panel Study, the Exposure Study, will help us estimate how much C8 women were exposed to while pregnant. We will look at whether the women we think were exposed to more C8 while pregnant had more problems with their pregnancies
Timeline: data collection 2008, analysis 2008 through 2009, results 2009
For more details on the Study of Birth Outcomes among the C8 Health Project Participants, click here
7. The Geographic Patterns of Cancer Study
(Investigator - Tony Fletcher)
We will use state cancer registries, census tract and
zip codes, water district records and other records
in West Virginia and Ohio, to study whether rates
of cancer incidence and cancer deaths differ in
relation to levels of exposure to C8. We will compare rates in the affected water districts to unexposed counties nearby, and within the exposed
areas assess how cancer rates vary depending on
exposure to C8 in the different water districts.
Timeline: data collection now to 2009, results
in 2010.
For more details on the Geographic Patterns of Cancer Study, click here
8. Follow-up Study on Immune Function,
Liver and Hormone Disorders
(Investigator - Tony Fletcher)
Of the roughly 70,000 participants in the C8 Health
Project, about two thirds gave their consent to be
part of follow-up studies. A subset of this group,
consisting of 1,000 individuals, will be re-contacted
to participate in this study. We will conduct interviews and collect further blood samples to help us
better understand the relationships between C8
blood levels and outcomes with the immune, liver
and endocrine systems. Using the new blood samples, we will do a much more complete set of tests
of the immune system and relate these to C8 levels.
We will be able to compare trends in clinical tests
and trends in C8 concentrations. We'll collect
additional information such as blood pressure.
Timeline: data collection and analysis up to
2009, results 2010
For more details on the Follow-up Study on Immune Function, Liver and Hormone Disorders, click here
9. The Exposure Study
(Investigators - Kyle
Steenland and Barry Ryan, Emory University)
To estimate past exposure to C8 in drinking water,
we will study how much C8 was released from the
Washington Works plant each year into the air and
water. We'll look at known wind patterns and
measurements of C8 in water. Taken together with
residential histories from the C8 Health Project, we
will be able to estimate how much C8 the 70,000
participants have taken into their bodies from
drinking water over time.
Timeline: data collection
2007, analysis end of 2007-8, results 2009
For more details on the Exposure Study, click here
10. The Half-life Study
(Investigators - Kyle
Steenland, Barry Ryan, Scott Bartell, Emory
University)
To better understand the relationship between past C8 exposures and current C8 blood levels, we will invite 200 adults from the C8 Health Project to participate in a longer study to determine the rate of removal, often called the "half-life", of C8 from the body Participants will be paid for providing up to eight blood samples and answering questionnaires.
We'll measure C8 levels in each blood sample during a four-year period.
Timeline: data collection 2007-2010,
analysis and results ongoing with
completion in 2011
For more details on the Half-life Study, click here
11. The Study of C8 and Neurobehavioral Development among Children from the C8 Health Project
This study considers whether child neurobehavioral development is related to C8 exposure among children who participated in the C8 Health Project. Neurobehavioral development refers to how children learn and behave compared to other children the same age. Some of the children who participated in the C8 Health project and who will be 6 - 11 years old during the data collection period will be invited to participate in the Neurobehavioral Development Study. We will only enroll children who were born and lived their entire lives in one of the affected water districts. We will interview children and parents to collect information that can be used to help us understand whether there is a relation between C8 exposure and the way children learn and behave.
Timeline: Data collection 2009 through 2010; data analysis 2010; results 2011
For more details on the Neurobehavioral Development Study, click here