Two Studies Highlight Environmental and Health Impacts of Failure to Limit PFAS Pollution
A growing body of evidence shows that the PFAS (“forever chemicals”) found in drinking water supplies in some North Carolina cities are showing up in human blood samples at troubling levels.
Two separate studies by researchers at NC State University have found pervasive contamination in water on the southeastern coast of North Carolina, concentrated in sea foam, and in blood samples taken over time from Wilmington residents.
PFAS on Our Beaches and Coasts
In the first study, N.C. State Researcher Jeffrey Enders said, “Sea foam along North Carolina’s coast can concentrate PFAS to levels thousands of times higher than the surrounding seawater. Monitoring these coastal environments is critical because contact with contaminated foam could pose unexpected risks to people and ecosystems.”
PFAS in Our Blood
In the second study, high levels of “ultrashort chain” PFAS were found in almost every sample of blood drawn from residents. That’s especially troubling because it is believed to be linked specifically to drinking water from the Cape Fear River, which provides drinking water for over a million people in North Carolina. The PFAS in the river originated in pollution from Chemours, the former Du Pont chemical facility in Fayetteville. The long-term durability of PFAS and other so-called “forever chemicals” means that the risks continue long after the pollution has been discharged.
PFAS exposure has been linked to several negative health impacts, including the risk of some cancers, as well as decreased fertility in women.
What Can Be Done?
Cape Fear River Watch and the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) are pressing the NC Dept. of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to require Chemours to halt these discharges. Chemours applied in April 2025 for a wastewater discharge permit which would allow continued release of PFAS to the river. It is also seeking permission to expand its production of PFAS at its Fayetteville facility.
“Communities in the Lower Cape Fear region have had their water supply contaminated for over forty years by Chemours. Our health and the health of the river have suffered enough,” said Kemp Burdette, Cape Fear Riverkeeper and executive director of Cape Fear River Watch. “Chemours can’t be allowed by DEQ to continue to prioritize its profits over the communities downstream of its discharge. And since Chemours won’t do this on their own, DEQ must require the company to remove these PFAS.”
“It’s outrageous that Chemours is allowing its PFAS to pass straight through its facility—and into people’s drinking water yet again,” said Jean Zhuang, SELC senior attorney. “With Chemours seeking a permit to keep polluting, while also asking for permission to expand its toxic chemical manufacturing, DEQ must hold Chemours accountable. After decades of toxic waste and hundreds of millions spent by communities to clean up the mess, the burden belongs squarely on Chemours and must not fall on North Carolina families.”
Federal, State Government Fail to Protect Communities
Meanwhile, the Trump Administration has abandoned plans to control GenX and other PFAS. In North Carolina, the NC Environmental Management Commission (EMC) is dragging its feet on even hearing proposed monitoring and minimization rules for PFAS and 1,4-dioxane from industrial users and dischargers. At its meeting last week, the EMC delayed hearing the report on proposed changes until a future meeting. It has now been more than a year since state water quality staff asked the EMC to:
- Develop a PFAS minimization initiative for all industrial direct dischargers to surface water, and
- Require the same initiative for all significant industrial users that discharge to publicly owned treatment works.
In the meantime, families who live along the lower Cape Fear River know that they continue to be exposed to toxic chemicals in their drinking water – possibly at increasing levels in the future.
“Outrageous” is one good word for the inaction of government agencies charged with protecting human health from such threats. “Abdication of responsibility” fits well too.
Our Work
We are working in the General Assembly and alongside communities to hold these government officials accountable for their inaction. Right now, that means educating voters so they know who is working to protect them and their health. Then, voters can use their voice to support or oppose that candidate in the 2026 election.
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