Latest WVU study finds more evidence of link between C8 levels and uric acid

While members of the C8 Science Panel were having their first-ever public meetings last week in the Parkersburg area,  the fine folks at West Virginia University’s Department of Community Medicine were churning out another study of C8′s potential health effects.

The latest work, published in the journal Clinical Epidemiology, reports:

We found that serum levels of perfluoroalkyl chemicals, including perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctane sulfonate, were positively associated with hyperuricemia. This association appeared to be independent of confounders such as age, gender, race-ethnicity, body mass index, diabetes, hypertension, and serum cholesterol.

The study explains:

Serum uric acid is a novel biomarker, even mild elevations of which has been implicated in the development of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, and chronic kidney disease.

Now, the C8 Science Panel previously reported on an association between C8 exposure and uric acid levels among residents of the Mid-Ohio Valley.  But the new WVU study looked at data from the National Health and Nutritional Examination Surveys, and found an association between uric acid levels and C8 at C8 levels similar to those found in the general U.S. population, reporting:

Our results demonstrate that elevated levels of perfluoroalkyl chemicals are associated with hyperuricemia even at low perfluoroalkyl chemical exposure levels as seen in the US general population.