Still more to learn about human exposure to toxic contaminants in Brunswick

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The LCP Chemicals Superfund Site, Feb. 7, 2024, Brunswick, GA.

Credit: Justin Taylor/The Current

Scientists from the Emory University School of Public Health in Atlanta say some people in coastal Brunswick have been exposed at above average levels to pesticides and Polychlorinated Biphenyls or PCBs.  

Four Superfund sites in Glynn County are likely the source, places where industry left toxic chemicals behind in the environment.   

The U.S. banned PCBs in the 1970s under the Toxic Substances Control Act because they can cause cancer and other health issues.  

Meanwhile, other environmental contaminants that can also cause adverse health outcomes called Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances, or PFAS, have not been fully banned. This week, the secretary of the Environmental Protection Agency committed to nationwide action on PFAS exposure, which could include a framework where polluters are held liable.  

In Brunswick, PFAS, PCBs and other contaminants have been found at the site of an old landfill, chemical manufacturing plants and a dredged creek. 

According to the study from Emory, blood tests from 100 longtime residents, including former workers at the plants, show almost half of them have levels of a highly chlorinated PCB called Aroclor 1268 that is far higher than U.S. averages.  

About a quarter also have above average levels of toxaphene, a pesticide, in their systems. Mercury, an initial concern due to levels of seafood consumption in the area, was not found at unusually high levels.  

There is no evidence-based method of reversing exposure to these chemicals.  

Emory professor and research lead on the study, Noah Scovronick, said researchers are continuing to work with locals to distribute education on exposure. But there’s still more to learn.  

“The fact that these chemicals build up in the body over time make it very difficult to differentiate whether people were exposed recently, or historically, or both,” he said.  

Scovronick said in order to understand how exposure works, they’ll need to survey more people, including adolescents and temporary residents. People have so far been open to that, he said.

“The community certainly had more questions that they want us to answer,” Scovronick said. “Some people were certainly surprised ... But many people told us that they were not surprised that this was just confirming long-held beliefs about what it meant for them to live or grow up or raise families in Glynn County.”  

The project is currently waiting on the approval of a federal grant from the National Institutes of Health to continue. Scovronick said that funding is critical.  

The full study is published online and in the journal Enivronmental Pollution.