Health

(INDIO, Calif.) — At Coachella, a group of independent volunteers handed out fentanyl test strips and carried the overdose treatment Narcan in an effort to curb overdoses related to the deadly synthetic opioid that is 50 times more powerful than heroin.

The nonprofit Team Awareness Combatting Overdose, or TACO, was behind the giveaway at the festival, which included performances by Bad Bunny, Blondie, Gorillaz and blink-182, among other acts.

“I will usually just ask them like, ‘Hey, are you interested in potentially having a test strip for testing for fentanyl?’ And people usually know what fentanyl is,” said Hanna Raskin, one of dozens of TACO volunteers.

TACO was founded by several students at the University of Southern California in the wake of several overdose deaths that occurred there in 2019.

Federal data from the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics shows that over half of people over the age of 12 have used illicit drugs at least once. TACO and similar groups advocate for harm reduction, an approach that seeks to lower the risks associated with drug use rather than advocating for total abstinence.

Ahead of the annual music festival, Raskin and TACO founder Madeline Hilliard hosted a virtual training session for their ambassadors, teaching them how to detect if common drugs are laced with fentanyl using the test strips.

“Couple grains of salt or sand-worth of fentanyl — it’s a white powder, it’s totally odorless, flavorless, so you can imagine how easily that could get mixed into something like a pill or MDMA or a bag of cocaine that’s also a white powder,” Hilliard said. MDMA is commonly known as ecstasy or molly.

And when people take contaminated drugs, the consequences are often devastating.

In 2022, synthetic opioids like fentanyl were the leading cause for the record number of drug poisonings and overdose deaths in the U.S, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Drug Enforcement Administration issued a public safety alert after lab testing found that 6 out of 10 fentanyl-laced pills contain a potential lethal dose. In 2021, the United States suffered more deaths related to fentanyl than gun- and auto-related deaths combined, according to the CDC. In the 12-month period ending in October 2021, the agency reported that more than 105,000 Americans died of drug overdoses; 66% of those deaths were related to synthetic opioids like fentanyl.

Riverside County, where Coachella took place over two weekends, saw the growing crisis kill nearly 500 residents last year, when a staggering 6.2 million fentanyl pills were seized there by the sheriff’s narcotics division, according to a press release from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office.

“[Test strips are] not 100% effective, but they are highly effective from what we’ve seen. When people use fentanyl test strips immediately, they’re now aware that fentanyl is a risk,” Hilliard said at the training.

Hilliard and Raskin also taught volunteers how to spot the telltale signs of an opioid overdose, such as slow breathing, unconsciousness and pinpoint pupils that don’t respond to light.

The nonprofit’s efforts have already saved lives like that of Charlie, a college student who survived an overdose after taking a drug he didn’t know contained fentanyl at a party last year. [Charlie is a pseudonym. The student asked not to be identified with his real name because of privacy concerns.]

“Everyone thinks that, ‘Oh it’s not going to happen to me. How could it be me?’ But it’s when you start becoming careless like that, that it can be you,” Charlie said.

Charlie says he was near death when a quick-thinking friend who had been trained by TACO swiftly administered Narcan.

“He’s alive today because we were able to educate his friends around him, so that when he did overdose, they were prepared to respond,” Hilliard said.

Hilliard said that a TACO volunteer administered Narcan to an unresponsive Coachella attendee exhibiting signs of an overdose who then regained consciousness after the treatment was used.

Raskin believes that everyone who chooses to use recreational drugs should be testing them for fentanyl.

“I want people to know that using drugs does not determine whether or not someone deserves to wake up the next morning. I also think it’s important to understand that if you are using drugs and you want to prevent experiencing an overdose, it’s essential that you test your drugs and also that you carry Narcan,” Raskin said.

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(NEW YORK) — A study released in the Journal of the American Medical Association last week has shed some new light on how breast cancer rates have been disproportionately affecting Black female patients and pressed for earlier screenings.

The study found that Black women had the same risk of dying from breast cancer if they were screened starting at age 42 as the general population had with screenings starting at the recommended age of 50.

Researchers, who examined data from 415, 277 breast cancer deaths between 2011 and 2020, found that breast cancer death rates for women between 40 and 49 were highest among Black female patients, with a rate of 27 deaths per 100,000.

“These findings suggest that health policy makers and clinicians could consider an alternative, race and ethnicity-adapted approach in which Black female patients start screening earlier,” the authors wrote.

Although the researchers noted that there is “currently insufficient data to make specific recommendations for different racial and ethnic populations,” they said that race and ethnicity need to be factored in to “optimize the benefit of screening.”

The study didn’t prospectively test what would happen if screening started earlier, but instead used the data to calculate a risk threshold for breast cancer based on the screening age.

For screenings that started at 50, Black female patients reached that threshold for breast cancer at 42, while non-Hispanic white females did so at 51, American Indian and Alaska Native and Hispanic females at 57 years, and Asian and Pacific Islander females at 61, according to the study.

For screenings that started at 40, Black females would reach the risk threshold level at 34, white females at 41, Hispanic, American Indian or Alaska Native and Asian or Pacific Islander females at age 43 years, researchers said.

Researchers acknowledged their study didn’t look at the possible risks of earlier breast cancer screening for various races and ethnicities, such as false positives and the mental and emotional toll of waiting for test results.

“Although Black women may experience disproportionate rates of false positives because of breast density, the added risk of false positives from earlier screenings may be balanced by the benefits associated with earlier [breast cancer] detection in this group,” researchers said.

The report concluded that to decrease breast cancer mortality, “the starting age for the general population could be decreased from 50 to 45 or 40 years like what is done for colorectal cancer screening in the U.S,” and “health policy makers may consider the alternative, risk-adapted approach in which individuals, such as Black females, who are at high risk are screened earlier.”

Several organizations have different recommendations for breast cancer screenings.

The United States Preventive Services Task Force says women ages 50 to 74 should get a mammogram every two years, and women 40 to 49 should talk to their doctors about mammograms.

The American Cancer Society, which found that Black women have the lowest five-year relative breast cancer survival rate compared to all other racial/ethnic groups, recommends that women at mean risk levels should start annual mammography screening from age 45 years but have the opportunity to start from age 40 years.

Dr. Arif Kamal, the chief patient officer of the American Cancer Society, told ABC News that more research is showing a trend of younger women being diagnosed with breast cancer, and earlier screenings that are tailor-made based on a patient’s race, may be needed.

“I think it highlights beyond race, people should evaluate their own risk of breast cancer, such as family history and the age at which they were diagnosed,” he told ABC News.

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(NEW YORK) — Over the weekend, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he had tested positive for COVID-19, his third time battling the virus.

Lopez Obradour, who suffered a heart attack in 2013, wrote on Twitter on Sunday that his case is mild and that “my heart is at 100 percent.”

Studies suggest that most Americans have been infected with COVID at least once but a growing number have been infected multiple times.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not provide reinfection data but state-level data paints a varied picture.

Data from the New York State Department of Health shows that about 8.5% of total infections are reinfections. In Washington state, about 1% of all infections are reinfections as of October 2022, the latest date for which data is available, the state health department said.

Experts say reinfection is caused by a number of factors — including waning immunity and more transmissible variants — but the risk is highest for those who are vulnerable to serious complications from COVID.

What is the risk of being reinfected?

There are several factors tied to a person’s likelihood of being reinfected.

As of March 19, CDC data shows the COVID-19 case rate for unvaccinated people was 81.11 per 100,000 — more than three times higher than the rate of 25.81 per 100,000 among people fully vaccinated and boosted.

While being fully vaccinated and getting the bivalent booster shot can lower the risk of reinfection, studies have shown that immunity does wane over time.

Additionally, the chances of reinfection increases if a person lives in a county with high community transmission levels versus low transmission levels.

Another study from the CDC looked at essential workers who had previously been infected. It found that being unvaccinated, not frequently wearing a mask since first infection and being Black all increased the risk of being reinfected.

“The reality is three years into the pandemic, we know that infection is dependent on a variety of factors, including prior immunity,” said Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation office at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor. “It’s not impossible especially over a long period of time, with immunity waning, whether that’s through infection or through vaccination.”

He continued, “We’ve seen many people with two, three, even four times COVID infection. It’s related to behavior. It’s related to practices around masking or travel.”

Role of variants

Currently, XBB.1.5, a subvariant of omicron, makes up the majority of new COVID cases in the U.S., CDC data shows.

Meanwhile, another subvariant, XBB.1.16, which was first detected in India, makes up nearly 10% of new cases.

Dr. Maria van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization’s technical lead for COVID-19, said at a briefing that the variant “has one additional mutation in the spike protein, which in lab studies showed increased infectivity.”

Currently, no data suggests XBB.1.16 causes an increase in more severe illness, hospitalizations or deaths.

Brownstein said it’s important to stay vigilant because a new variant could change how likely reinfection is.

“We still have concern about being thrown a curveball when it comes to variants,” Brownstein said. “So far, we’re seeing a pretty predictable path along this omicron front but it is possible we’ll see something completely out of left field that could challenge that underlying immunity that we’ve had from previous infections and vaccines.”

Is reinfection dangerous?

Brownstein said there has been conflicting data on whether or not COVID reinfection raises the risk of chronic illness. Having a prior infection, however, does offer some protection, experts say.

“At the end of the day having the underlying immunity is beneficial … some level of immunity will provide some cross protection to new variants,” he said.

Brownstein said there is still a risk for those who are more likely to have severe complications from COVID-19, including the elderly and those who are immunocompromised.

Additionally, every COVID infection increases the risk of someone developing long COVID, which occurs when a person has ongoing symptoms of COVID lasting three months or longer.

“The concern that we have is not just about hospitalizations and deaths; it’s the long-term chronic impact of COVID,” Brownstein said. “And each time that you get infected, there’s a potential for having longer-lasting symptoms, which we’ve seen strong data support, how debilitating some of these impacts can be for the population.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Over the weekend, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he had tested positive for COVID-19, his third time battling the virus.

Lopez Obradour, who suffered a heart attack in 2013, wrote on Twitter on Sunday that his case is mild and that “my heart is at 100 percent.”

Studies suggest that most Americans have been infected with COVID at least once but a growing number have been infected multiple times.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not provide reinfection data but state-level data paints a varied picture.

Data from the New York State Department of Health shows that about 8.5% of total infections are reinfections. In Washington state, about 1% of all infections are reinfections as of October 2022, the latest date for which data is available, the state health department said.

Experts say reinfection is caused by a number of factors — including waning immunity and more transmissible variants — but the risk is highest for those who are vulnerable to serious complications from COVID.

What is the risk of being reinfected?

There are several factors tied to a person’s likelihood of being reinfected.

As of March 19, CDC data shows the COVID-19 case rate for unvaccinated people was 81.11 per 100,000 — more than three times higher than the rate of 25.81 per 100,000 among people fully vaccinated and boosted.

While being fully vaccinated and getting the bivalent booster shot can lower the risk of reinfection, studies have shown that immunity does wane over time.

Additionally, the chances of reinfection increases if a person lives in a county with high community transmission levels versus low transmission levels.

Another study from the CDC looked at essential workers who had previously been infected. It found that being unvaccinated, not frequently wearing a mask since first infection and being Black all increased the risk of being reinfected.

“The reality is three years into the pandemic, we know that infection is dependent on a variety of factors, including prior immunity,” said Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation office at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor. “It’s not impossible especially over a long period of time, with immunity waning, whether that’s through infection or through vaccination.”

He continued, “We’ve seen many people with two, three, even four times COVID infection. It’s related to behavior. It’s related to practices around masking or travel.”

Role of variants

Currently, XBB.1.5, a subvariant of omicron, makes up the majority of new COVID cases in the U.S., CDC data shows.

Meanwhile, another subvariant, XBB.1.16, which was first detected in India, makes up nearly 10% of new cases.

Dr. Maria van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization’s technical lead for COVID-19, said at a briefing that the variant “has one additional mutation in the spike protein, which in lab studies showed increased infectivity.”

Currently, no data suggests XBB.1.16 causes an increase in more severe illness, hospitalizations or deaths.

Brownstein said it’s important to stay vigilant because a new variant could change how likely reinfection is.

“We still have concern about being thrown a curveball when it comes to variants,” Brownstein said. “So far, we’re seeing a pretty predictable path along this omicron front but it is possible we’ll see something completely out of left field that could challenge that underlying immunity that we’ve had from previous infections and vaccines.”

Is reinfection dangerous?

Brownstein said there has been conflicting data on whether or not COVID reinfection raises the risk of chronic illness. Having a prior infection, however, does offer some protection, experts say.

“At the end of the day having the underlying immunity is beneficial … some level of immunity will provide some cross protection to new variants,” he said.
 
Brownstein said there is still a risk for those who are more likely to have severe complications from COVID-19, including the elderly and those who are immunocompromised.

Additionally, every COVID infection increases the risk of someone developing long COVID, which occurs when a person has ongoing symptoms of COVID lasting three months or longer.

“The concern that we have is not just about hospitalizations and deaths; it’s the long-term chronic impact of COVID,” Brownstein said. “And each time that you get infected, there’s a potential for having longer-lasting symptoms, which we’ve seen strong data support, how debilitating some of these impacts can be for the population.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — A Canadian health official said on Friday Americans could access an abortion drug up north if a ban is upheld in the United States.

In an April 7 decision, Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of the Northern District of Texas ruled in favor of Alliance Defending Freedom — a conservative Christian legal advocacy group — and reversed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone.

After appeals, the case worked its way up the Supreme Court, which issued an administrative stay that gives the justices more time to consider the issue. The stay will be in place until the end of day Friday.

Philippe-Alexandre Langlois, press secretary to Canada’s Families Minister Karina Gould, said non-Canadians — including Americans — are welcome to obtain an abortion in Canada.

“Our government has and will always defend a woman’s right to choose. We have taken action to not only protect, but also improve access to reproductive health services, including abortion,” he told ABC News in a statement.

“In Canada, there is no prohibition on the provision of health care services to citizens of other countries,” the statement continued. “Non-Canadians are able to receive necessary medical services here, provided they can access and pay for them.”

The statement comes after Gould told CTV News Thursday that when it comes to access to the abortion pill, Canada would “work to provide that for American women.”

Mifepristone is a drug typically used in combination with another drug, misoprostol, to induce an abortion or to help manage an early miscarriage.

The medication works by blocking progesterone, a hormone that the body needs to continue a pregnancy.

This causes the uterine lining to stop thickening and to break down, detaching the embryo. The second drug, misoprostol, taken 24 to 48 hours later, causes the uterus to contract and dilates the cervix, which will expel the embryo.

The FDA authorized mifepristone for medication abortion in September 2000 for up to seven weeks’ gestation, which was then extended to 10 weeks’ gestation in 2016.

However, the World Health Organization says the two drug-regiment can be taken up until the 12-week mark of pregnancy.

Medication abortion now accounts for more than half of all abortions in the U.S., according to the Guttmacher Institute.

In its lawsuit, Alliance Defending Freedom, the advocacy group, claimed that mifepristone is not safe, and that the FDA didn’t study it closely enough before it was approved.

However, OBGYNs have previously told ABC News that countless studies have shown mifepristone to be safe and effectives.

“We stand in solidarity with American women standing up for their rights to access reproductive and sexual healthcare, including their access to abortion,” Langlois’s statement said.

The statement continued, “We have discussed what Canada’s support for American women in need might be, and those discussions are still ongoing…We will continue to monitor closely the situation in the United States.”

If mifepristone is banned, misoprostol would still be available for both abortions and miscarriages on its own, but as an off-label use.

Data from around the world shows misoprostol is safe and effective — and that they’re ready to provide misoprostol-only abortions — but that the two-dose regimen is more effective and has fewer side effects.

ABC News’ Katie Kindelan contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — COVID-19 deaths hit a new low this week, reaching levels not seen since late March 2020, when the pandemic was just beginning.

An estimated 1,160 Americans died from the virus this week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The next lowest point was the week of March 18, 2020, with 169 deaths.

Over 1 million people have died from COVID-19 in the U.S. since the start of the pandemic.

“It’s very unlikely that COVID deaths will go to zero, because we have a virus that is now here to stay and, in all likelihood, will constantly evolve to outpace our immunity,” said Dr. John Brownstein, an ABC News contributor and chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital.

Cases have also significantly declined, with less than 100,000 people testing positive this week. Experts have warned that case counts may be a gross underestimate due to the widespread availability of at-home tests.

The new XBB.1.16 omicron subvariant may be responsible for a recent surge of cases in India.

It now makes up nearly 10% of new cases in the U.S. but does not appear to be more severe than similar subvariants, experts say.

“We’re still constantly concerned about some new variant, and this is why surveillance and public health action is so important, but at the individual level I think we can now rest assured that we’re in an absolutely better place,” Brownstein said.

More than 50 million Americans have received the most updated COVID bivalent vaccine, CDC data shows.

Uptake has been slowing down since the beginning of the year, with only 5 million people getting the shot in the past few months.

The FDA also recently announced a new simplified vaccination schedule for COVID vaccines.

Those over the age of 65 are now eligible for a second bivalent shot four months after their first. Immunocompromised patients can also receive another booster two months after their first and may be eligible for additional doses under the discretion of their provider.

“We don’t know what a fall surge can bring but given the rapidly declining numbers of deaths and hospitalizations over time, even with new variants emerging, this is a really positive outlook for the future,” Brownstein said.

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(NEW YORK) — A new report claims that the popular cosmetic treatment CoolSculpting may pose a higher risk for a serious side effect than previously thought.

A recently published New York Times examination, which reportedly included a review of “internal documents, lawsuits, medical studies and interviews,” concluded that the risk of a possible side effect of disfigurement only correctable by surgery, may have been previously underreported.

“I spoke with over a dozen doctors who all said that they think the side effect is underreported by the company and this is something they’ve either observed in their own practice or have noticed in research,” Anna Kobe, a New York Times reporter, told ABC News’ Good Morning America.

The CoolSculpting device was cleared by the Food and Drug Administration in 2010. Allergan Aesthetics, the parent company of Zeltiq Aesthetics, which markets and licenses the CoolSculpting devices, says the treatments are able to “freeze” fat away, citing in 2010 that the treatment is a safe and painless alternative to other fat reduction services, like liposuction.

CoolScupting has since become nearly ubiquitous in dermatology offices, plastic surgery practices and medical spas.

The technology, which was developed in a lab associated with Harvard Medical School, uses a technique called “cryolipolysis,” a nonsurgical technique that applies extreme cold to targeted areas of fat, ultimately reducing some of the fat cells, according to research published in the journal Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology in 2014.

Once treated, some of the frozen fat cells die over the course of a few months, leaving a desired slimming effect.

However, for some patients, the procedure produces different results. A serious side effect — known as paradoxical adipose hyperplasia — may occur in some cases, which is when some of the fat cells enlarge, harden and sometimes take the shape of the applicator — leaving blocky chunks around treated parts of the body.

CoolSculpting states on its website that “rare side effects” may occur following CoolSculpting treatment, including paradoxical hyperplasia, which the manufacturer says occurs in a current reported rate of about 1 out of 3000 treatments.

“These procedures are not for everyone,” it states, adding, “You should not be treated with CoolSculpting or CoolSculpting Elite if you suffer from cryoglobulinemia, cold agglutinin disease, or paroxysmal cold hemoglobinuria.”

In response to the New York Times report, Allergan Aesthetics said in a statement that CoolSculpting “has been well studied with more than 100 scientific publications” and claimed “more than 17 million treatments have been performed worldwide.”

Allergan said the company is “compliant with all adverse event reporting requirements” and added that they encourage doctors and their patients to discuss side effects before the start of any CoolSculpting treatments.

“All procedures, including those which involve the use of a medical device, have potential side effects. We encourage doctors and patients to discuss potential benefits and risks before any procedure. While the cause of PH is currently unknown, we have continued to inform healthcare providers and provide educational materials for them to discuss PH risk with patients. In addition, we offer a comprehensive training and education curriculum in partnership with CoolSculpting® providers,” Allergan said.

The company also said it will “continue to review scientific literature related to PH and update provider materials as new data emerges.”

CoolSculpting found itself in the spotlight in September 2021 after model Linda Evangelista alleged that CoolSculpting left her “brutally disfigured.”

The model claimed on Instagram that the treatments had left her “permanently deformed” even after undergoing several corrective surgeries. She claimed she had “not [been] made aware” of the risk of developing paradoxical adipose hyperplasia prior to the treatments.

“PAH has not only destroyed my livelihood, it has sent me into a cycle of deep depression, profound sadness, and the lowest depths of self-loathing,” she wrote in a statement posted to her Instagram account. “In the process, I have become a recluse.”

Evangelista filed a $50 million lawsuit that same month against Zeltiq Aesthetics, claiming the CoolSculpting treatments had caused her to suffer disfigurement, pain, severe emotional distress and economic losses that rendered her unemployable.

At the time, Zeltiq declined to comment on ongoing litigation. In a December court filing, the company claimed that Evangelista had been warned of the procedure’s risks beforehand and asked the court to toss out the case.

Evangelista stated in July 2022 that she had settled her case against Zeltiq, adding that she was ready to move forward and “put this matter behind me.”

A Zeltiq representative told British Vogue that month that the company was “pleased to have resolved this matter with Ms. Evangelista.”

“Our focus continues to be on empowering confidence by providing safe, reliable aesthetics products and services backed by science,” the representative said. “CoolSculpting is an FDA-cleared, non-invasive treatment for visible fat bulges in nine areas of the body.”

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(NEW YORK) — Synthetic chemicals are being detected in America’s water supply at a rapid rate, potentially affecting millions of people over the past two decades, according to a data analysis by ABC News.

Researchers say that when people are exposed at high levels, these chemicals can increase certain health risks.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS or forever chemicals, are a group of approximately 12,000 chemicals used to make a variety of industrial and consumer products such as nonstick pans, food packaging and firefighting foam.

Researchers are still studying the potential health impacts, but exposure at high levels have been linked to various health problems, including kidney and testicular cancer, high cholesterol and reduced response to vaccines, according to Jamie DeWitt, a professor of pharmacology and toxicology at East Carolina University.

The ABC News analysis of reported PFAS water contamination found that 43% of U.S. ZIP codes have had at least one water source where PFAS contamination was detected over the past 20 years.

The data, collected by ABC News from federal and state environmental agencies, show the number of new detections in water sources each year rose from 753 in 2013 to 2,321 in 2021.

That equates to at least 143 million Americans who have been possibly drinking, bathing and cleaning with contaminated tap water during that period. Additionally, millions more who may have been exposed to PFAS through contaminated water supplies at military installations, airports, manufacturing plants and other sources.

Researchers say that although most people in the U.S. have some level of PFAS in their blood, the health risks are greatest for those that have the highest exposure.

Last year, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine put out medical guidelines suggesting that people whose blood contains a high level of PFAS (more than 2 nanograms per milliliter) should get additional screening for high cholesterol, cancer and other potential health risks. People with lower levels of PFAS in their blood “are not expected to have adverse health effects,” according to the committee.

An ABC investigation found significant disparities in PFAS exposure in the U.S.

While PFAS contamination is widespread, contaminated water sites are more prevalent in ZIP codes that are poorer and more racially diverse than the national average, the analysis also found.

Of the ZIP codes where PFAS was detected in water sites, 49% were in ZIP codes where the median household income was below the 2020 national average of $67,521.

One in six ZIP codes with PFAS-contaminated water sites have a higher proportion of non-white population than the national average of 42.2%.

“(Contamination) is sprinkled in every single state in the country. It’s sprinkled in communities small, large, rural, urban, suburban. It’s all over the place,” Erik Olson, the senior strategic director for health at the Natural Resources Defense Council, told ABC News.

The 191-mile Cape Fear River, which runs through the region, is the most industrialized in the state — lined with manufacturing and agricultural plants. It is a drinking water source for more than 1.5 million residents in the region.

A North Carolina newspaper first reported in 2017 that a former DuPont chemical plant had dumped PFAS chemicals into the Cape Fear River for nearly 40 years.

DuPont owned the facility that polluted the river from 1968 until 2015, when it spun-off its PFAS business to a separate business, the Chemours Company.

Because Chemours was operating the facility at the time contamination was discovered in the river, the state of North Carolina investigated and fined the company $12M for violating clean water laws — part of a consent order the company agreed to in order to avoid further litigation.

DuPont officials would not respond to interview requests from ABC News. They were not charged with any wrongdoing because they had sold the company prior to 2017.

Although the Chemours Company declined to speak to ABC News for this story, they did provide an emailed statement saying, “We have and continue to implement state-of-the-art technologies, including a thermal oxidizer completed in December 2019 that destroys over 99.99% of PFAS air emissions.”

The company says it does additional work to treat the “legacy pollution” and reduce PFAS compounds from reaching the Cape Fear River.

Still, there’s an ongoing impact from PFAS contamination on residents in the region.

“North Carolina is kind of ground zero for unlocking and understanding where we are right now with PFAS contamination, especially with drinking water,” Emily Donovan, co-founder of Clean Cape Fear, told ABC News.

“It was kinda like a slow, rolling nightmare. Like a nightmare that you can’t wake up from,” Donovan said.

Blood tests performed between 2020 and 2021 on hundreds of residents in New Hanover and Brunswick counties in the Cape Fear region show almost all had levels of 44 different PFAS chemicals in their bodies.

The median blood level for PFAS chemicals in residents of New Hanover and Brunswick counties was 6 parts per trillion — far above the national average.

In nearby Cumberland County, Carolyn McDonald, a lifelong area resident, is convinced PFAS contamination has contributed to her health problems.

She used to love the taste of well water straight from the ground. But when she heard the groundwater was contaminated, she began to worry.

“I’ve been drinkin’ groundwater from the well all my life,” she said.

Now, McDonald, and her family, who live in the Fayetteville, North Caroline, area, buy bottled water twice a month.

June 5 will mark five years since she began kidney dialysis treatment. She wakes up at 3 a.m., three times a week, to travel about 30 miles to her dialysis center.

McDonald said she was shocked when she was diagnosed with kidney disease.

While impossible to prove PFAS was the cause of McDonald’s illness, research studies say that PFAS contamination increases the risk of kidney disease.

She says she also has nephews, a niece, brothers and friends who also lived in the area and drank the well water — who also suffer from kidney-related problems.

When she learned the contaminated groundwater could be a contributing factor for kidney disease, she says it all made sense.

“All these illnesses, all (of) us … drinkin’ the water. There’s gotta be a connection between the illness and the water,” she said.

The Environmental Protection Agency is responsible for monitoring PFAS contamination across the U.S. In October 2021, the EPA released its plan for addressing the problem, but by early 2023, it had only issued a few advisories and missed key deadlines.

This past March, the EPA proposed the first federal limits on six forever chemicals in drinking water. The proposal includes setting a limit of 4 parts per trillion, the lowest level that can be accurately measured, for two types of PFAS chemicals called PFOA and PFOS.

EPA Administrator Michael Regan said his strategy is to “hold corporate polluters accountable and work towards regulations that make it very clear what is safe and what is not safe.”

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(NEW YORK) — A Texas mom whose two kids have autism is challenging others to learn about autism spectrum disorder this April, which happens to be Autism Acceptance Month.

It’s an issue close to Tiffany Hammond’s heart, not only because the condition affects her family, but also herself.

The 38-year-old told Good Morning America she received a diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome when she was 18 and in college. Nowadays, doctors no longer use the Asperger’s syndrome classification. Instead, people who were given that diagnosis in the past are now understood to have a form of autism.

“In college, I was just like, I don’t want to tell anybody this,” Hammond told GMA. “So I didn’t really think about it. I kind of took the [diagnosis] papers and hid them in my drawers in my dorm and tried to basically go about life as I always was going about it.”

But in the last two decades, Hammond’s perspective has shifted dramatically and she’s now on a mission to tell the stories of her family through her “Fidgets and Fries” website and social media platform and through her upcoming children’s book, A Day With No Words, out May 9.

“[I] try to create something based on my own life that I can share with someone else so that they can get a deeper understanding of what someone else might be going through,” Hammond said, adding that she feels “stories are our greatest teachers.”

Hammond said her older son Aidan, 16, doesn’t speak and her younger son, Josiah, 14, does speak, but only in some situations.

“One of the things that people will tell me after they learn that my son doesn’t speak is, they’ll say, ‘So he doesn’t know words?’ or ‘Does he not understand anything that we’re saying?'” Hammond said.

The mom of two however, said others’ assumptions are often far from reality. Hammond said Aidan does understand words and one of the ways he communicates is by using an iPad with an augmentative and alternative communication app, or AAC app, that lets him tap symbols, pictures and words.

Aidan’s communication method is featured prominently in A Day With No Words. Hammond said the children’s book is not just about Aidan but dedicated to him and his younger brother.

“I wanted to honor my son in every possible way that I could and then I wanted to challenge the reader, so I wanted to entertain them and also challenge them,” Hammond said.

“When I was thinking about it, I was like, this book is not for the autism community, specifically. It has to address those outside of it, because we will not make a more equitable and accessible world if we do not bring in other people,” she added.

With the book, which is also vividly illustrated by artist Kate Cosgrove, Hammond hopes to make readers “think more deeply about their own communication and their own interactions with one another” and “[apply] that to everyone and especially to people like my son.”

“There are a lot of us out there and just learning just a little bit can go a long way — just opening up your understanding and your eyes a little bit more and inviting yourself to learn about an experience that you do not know yet, that helps so much,” Hammond said.

“Even if you never ever in your entire life come across another or a single person that has autism, [learning about autism] still helps you to be a better human, it still helps you to be more compassionate and more understanding, just to learn about the many different ways that we can be human,” she added.

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(ATLANTA) — About one-third of American households used the free at-home COVID-19 test site launched by the Biden administration, new federal data shows.

COVIDTests.gov was first launched in January 2022, when President Joe Biden pledged to give out 1 billion free rapid tests to combat the omicron surge at the time.

The site was temporarily shut down in fall 2022 but relaunched in December as part of the White House’s winter preparedness plan.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which published its report Thursday, said more than 70 million test kits were shipped across the United States. The CDC report details how many kits were used and which groups used them.

The agency conducted a survey of 3,400 Americans aged 18 and older between April 14, 2022, and May 13, 2022, who were tested for COVID-19 in the previous six months.

Results showed that 59.9% of households — equivalent to about 77 million households — had ordered government kits. Only 38.3% — equivalent to about 49 million — reported using a test kit.

Of that group, 23.6% said they likely would not have tested without the COVIDTests.gov program.

There were no major differences when it came to who used the site by race and/or ethnicity.

About 42.1% of Black households placed at least one order as did 41.5% of Hispanic households, 34.8% of white households and 53.7% of households of other races.

As for other at-home tests — such as from a pharmacy, a doctor’s office or a drive-thru site — only about 11.8% of Black households used them compared to 45.8% of white households.

“Compared with White persons, Black persons were 72% less likely to use other home test kits,” the report read. “Provision of tests through this well-publicized program likely improved use of COVID-19 home testing and health equity in the United States, particularly among Black persons.”

Households made up of those aged 65 and older were the least likely to have used a test kit from the website, with only 26.8% doing so.

Meanwhile, households with individuals between ages 18 and 34 were the most likely to use a kit.

There were no major differences when it came to who used the program based on which region of the U.S. they lived in, education level or household income.

Additionally, participants were asked if they were aware of the COVIDTests.gov program and how the experience was.

The CDC found that 93.8% of households knew what the program was. Among those who used the test kits 95.5% rated the experience as “very acceptable” or “acceptable.”

“These data indicate that provision of free COVID-19 tests through the COVIDTests.gov program was not only widely used, but also provided a mechanism for millions of persons to receive COVID-19 testing who otherwise might not have,” the authors wrote.

“Moreover, this program likely led to improvement in equity of COVID-19 testing … these findings support the substantial health value of national programs that address critical health needs during a pandemic response,” they continued.

ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett contributed to this report.

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