UPDATE 10/29/12 @ 11:22 a.m.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- A science panel says it has found probable links between high cholesterol in mid-Ohio Valley residents and their exposure to a chemical used by a DuPont plant in West Virginia.

The C8 Science Panel released its final report Monday on studies of data collected from about 70,000 residents. The three-member science panel was formed in 2005 as part of a class-action settlement of a lawsuit that claimed water supplies were contaminated in Ohio and West Virginia.

The company uses C8 at its Washington Works plant near Parkersburg. DuPont plans to stop making and using C8 by 2015.

Previously the panel found probable links between the chemical, also known as or perfluorooctanoic acid, and several other health issues, including thyroid disease, testicular and kidney cancers, pregnancy-induced hypertension and ulcerative colitis.

The C8 Science Panel released its latest findings in Parkersburg on Monday.

The panel also says it didn't find any links between perfluorooctanoic acid, also known as C8, and 21 other types of cancer, along with adult onset diabetes.

DuPont uses C8 at its Washington Works plant near Parkersburg. The panel was created in 2005 as part of a class-action lawsuit against DuPont that claimed C8 contaminated water supplies in Ohio and West Virginia.

The panel has previously released findings on topics such as reproductive issues and thyroid disease.

Findings related to other health problems are to be released by the end of July.