A New York Times article, reprinted on the Environment Working Group website, looks at the current raft of lawsuits concerning the health risks of Teflon, and their possible effects on EPA chemical regulation policies.
"A Likely Carcinogen"
DuPont paid more the $100 million in 2004 to settle a lawsuit contending that Teflon may have poisoned tap water in West Virginia. DuPont hoped that would end the matter. But earlier this month, scientists advising the EPA came to the conclusion that a chemical used in Teflon processing, pefluorooctanoic acid (PFOA, or C8) was a "likely carcinogen."
This may mean that the EPA will have to regulate the chemical. It could also have repercussions on both an ongoing criminal investigation into whether DuPont covered up tests demonstrating a public health threat, and a class-action suit recently filed on behalf of purchasers of Teflon-coated cookware.
Voluntary Testing Program
Concerns over the use of chemicals in consumer products and industrial processes have spurred Canada and the EU to enact stricter controls on chemical use and labeling. The U.S. has not followed suit, because in the late 1990's chemical companies started a voluntary testing program for chemicals produced in excess of a million pounds a year.
PFOA has been cited as an example of the need to regulate chemicals more carefully, since in the fifty years that Teflon has been manufactured, very little has been done to determine how it affects human health. Meanwhile, it is present in the blood of more than 90% of Americans.
The First in More Than 15 Years
The EPA has used its authority to request health data on fewer than 200 chemicals since 1979, although more than 700 new chemical agents are introduced into the marketplace each year. Chemical makers are not required by law to test compounds for human health effects before asking the EPA to approve them, and most companies do not test voluntarily.
If the EPA were to regulate the use of PFOA, it would be the first important chemical control procedure enacted since asbestos was partially regulated more than 15 years ago. Since World War II, only five of the 80,000 chemicals currently in commercial use are regulated:
- PCBs
- Halogenated chlorofluoroalkanes
- Dioxin
- Asbestos
- Hexavalent chromium
"The system does not work, and our blood and bodies and tissues are proof," said David Ozonoff, a Boston University professor of environmental health.
Environmental Working Group July 27, 2005
