After over a year of sampling surface water from the Haw River, collaborating with Pittsboro residents and stakeholders, and analyzing samples in the laboratory, we are finally ready to begin sharing our preliminary research study results and to launch our PFAS Exposure Study website.
A collaboration of minds from the Duke Nicholas School of the Environment, the Pratt School of Engineering, the Nicholas Institute for Policy Solutions, and the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, we began this study because of the growing public health concerns as well as the environmental implications of the continued use of and exposure to PFAS. Although there are still some unknowns regarding the long term effects of PFAS on human health, as well as some of the point sources for PFAS in North Carolina, we are motivated to finally share our results with the community, and to contribute to PFAS research locally and nationally.
We have preliminary results ready to share from our Exposure Study, and we plan to hold a virtual town hall this fall (2020) to share some of our results and connect with the community (as best we can in these covid-times!). For our River Study, we collected weekly water samples from the Haw River from 13 locations over the past year. We’ve observed seasonal trends in PFAS levels, and plan to continue to track how other variables, such as rain and evaporation affect the concentrations of PFAS in the river. We are so grateful to our study participants who gave us not only their time, but samples of their drinking water and even samples of their blood. We’ve analyzed these samples and are continuing to run statistical analyses to understand how much of one’s exposure is attributable to consumption of the Town of Pittsboro’s drinking water. Please stop by our Study Results page to see some of our preliminary data.
We understand that PFAS contamination is a concern for our NC community, as well as Americans nationwide. We are with you, and our research team is eager to continue our research study in Pittsboro, but we also hope to expand our reach in the near future. We hope you find our website helpful and informative, and please stop by our FAQ page, or Resources page for more PFAS related info.