NC State Researchers Invite Wilmington, Brunswick County Residents to Participate in GenX Exposure Study

Researchers from North Carolina State University are recruiting new participants from Wilmington and Brunswick County for the GenX Exposure Study. The five-year study, which focuses on understanding GenX and other PFAS exposure in the Cape Fear River Basin, is expanding from its current 500 participants to over 1,200.

Little is known about how GenX and other PFAS are stored in the body, their toxicity, or how long the chemicals will remain in the environment. The GenX exposure study aims to address these questions.

Individuals will be asked to provide a blood sample, complete a questionnaire and have their height and weight measured. Blood will be analyzed to detect GenX and a suite of PFAS chemicals. Additionally, the blood will be tested to determine lipid levels and thyroid and liver function.

COVID-19 antibodies will also be measured in participants’ blood to help understand whether PFAS exposure affects immune response. In June, the Centers for Disease Control issued a statement about potential interactions between PFAS and COVID-19. The GenX Study will provide data to help answer that question.

Individual results will be shared with participants and summary results will be shared with the public without participants’ private information.

Interested participants should call (919) 515-1302. For more information about the GenX exposure study or questions about the testing, visit genxstudy.ncsu.edu.

The GenX study is funded by the NC State Superfund Research Center and includes researchers from NC State and East Carolina University (ECU). COVID-19 antibody testing is made possible by funding from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the ECU CARES Act funding.

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This post was originally published in NC State News.