"CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A new West Virginia University study cautions that exposure to the toxic chemical C8 may affect the function of the thyroid gland and says more research on the matter is needed.

The study, published in the latest edition of the Journal of Toxicological Sciences, found that C8 exposure was associated with elevations of one thyroid hormone and decreased uptake of another. Through these hormones, the thyroid helps control how quickly the body uses energy and makes proteins and controls how sensitive the body is to other hormones.

WVU researcher Sarah Knox and other authors examined thyroid test data from the C8 Health Project -- a review of C8 involving 70,000 Mid-Ohio Valley residents -- and reported 'evidence for disruption of thyroid function related' to C8.

The authors noted that the absence of one key piece of data -- measurements of a blood protein that binds with thyroid hormones -- made it difficult to figure out exactly what the findings mean for thyroid function."

Ken Ward Jr. reports for the Charleston Gazette August 6, 2011. [2]