RALEIGH, N.C. -- North Carolina and federal health officials want to test whether neighbors of a chemical company are carrying little-understood industrial compounds in their bodies.

• Blood and urine will be tested for up to 30 resident of Bladen and Cumberland counties.
• The results will be screened for GenX and 16 related chemicals.
• Test results will be shared with those participating.

North Carolina's Department of Health and Human Services said Tuesday it is working with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Bladen and Cumberland county health departments to test dozens of volunteers living around a Chemours Co. plant south of Fayetteville.

Officials plan to check the blood and urine of up to 30 residents for GenX and 16 related chemicals.

The state health agency says the results will allow comparisons to levels detected in people elsewhere, but won't clarify whether GenX and related chemicals have specific health effects.

The chemical, however, has been linked to giving cancer to animals.

Test results will be shared with the adults and children participating.

Chemours offers filters to owners of tainted water wells

The Chemours Co. also said Tuesday it will install and maintain granular activated carbon filtration systems at homes with levels of the chemical GenX above the state's health goal.

The company said it's making the move even though North Carolina's environmental agency is still testing whether the filters are effective. State Department of Environmental Quality spokeswoman Bridget Munger said Chemours is acting without consulting the agency.

Chemours says it wanted to extend the offer to residents while DEQ completes its review of the testing results because it's confident the filters are removing all the unwanted compounds.