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The pollution came from a plastics plant near Paulsboro. Solvay Solexis and Arkema of West Deptford settled a class-action lawsuit to clean up the drinking water believed contaminated back to 1980.
PFAS — which are "forever" chemicals — are man-made chemicals that have been used in industry and manufacturing of consumer products since the 1950s, Rutgers says.
Paulsboro, a town of 6,000 on the Delaware River, recorded the highest rate of one type of PFAS chemical, a perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) before a contaminated well was shuttered in 2014.
Health impacts of PFNA are less known, however, some studies have shown that PFAS may:
- Adversely affect growth, learning, and behavior of infants and children
- Lower a woman’s chance of getting pregnant
- Interfere with the body’s natural hormones
- Increase cholesterol levels
- Affect the immune system
- Increase the risks for some cancers
Nearly a dozen regions nationwide will be studied in an effort led by the Centers for Disease Control. A different study will measure the effect of water on humans in 11 townships in Bucks and Montgomery counties in Pennsylvania, primarily near military bases.
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