"If you had come here expecting some final conclusions, I'm afraid I can't offer that," said Dr. Tony Fletcher, of the C8 Science Project, opening a news conference Friday morning.

That might come in a year or so. Right now, the project wants to test a smaller number of the nearly 70,000 people who took part four years ago, in blood sampling for the presence of the chemical.

It now wants to know how much of that chemical remains in their bodies, in the years since the beginning of filtering of local water wells. Meanwhile, substudies continue, including one aimed at local children.

"The study that's going on with children, looking at attention, concentration, reaction to measure subtle neurological brain effects, is two-thirds of the way through. That work is going on at the moment."

a second blood test, of the general population, took place last year. although compensation for these tests is well below what participants were orginally paid for the initial sampling, fletcher says response by the public is still strong.

"90% of the people we contant say, 'fine, we're happy to participate, to finalize these studies. We appreciate that high level of cooperation."

Dr. Fletcher says recent follow-up studies say the washout rate...the amount of C8 that has left the bloodstream in the past few years...has been shown to be higher than expected.

And for more information on the science panel's work...click on the "Hot Button" on our home page.