Help raise the awareness. For full text, visit this article: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1205-05.htm published today, 12.05.06 by CommonDreams.org

PERFLUOROCHEMICALS (PFOA)

What are they?

A group of man-made chemicals often used in a wide variety of consumer products such as carpets, upholstery, textiles and nonstick cookware. Perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, has grabbed the public spotlight recently because it is used in Teflon cookware. Brand names include Teflon, Stainmaster, Gore-Tex. DuPont and other manufacturers agreed to work to phase out its use by 2015. Still, perfluorochemicals are in the blood of virtually all Americans, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency. And numerous studies have found that the levels in U.S. residents are the world’s highest. The chemicals’ widespread use in carpets, stain-resistant textiles and cleaners is possibly the major source of human exposure.

What are the possible health effects?

The main concern is that when perfluorochemicals enter the body, they stay there for years. An EPA science advisory panel recommended in February that PFOA is a “likely” human carcinogen. Other studies involving laboratory animals have found that perfluorochemicals damage organ function and sexual development. DuPont officials, however, say there is no evidence that the chemicals harm humans. (Despite the fact that they have recently reduced the level of PFOA in new Teflon products, have agreed to completely phase out the chemical by 2015, and face a $10.25 million lawsuit filed in 2005 by the EPA for failing to report that it had learned as early as 1981 that PFOA could pass from a woman’s blood to her fetus).

SOURCES: Environmental Protection Agency, federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, New York State Department of Health

STUDIES:

A 2001 University of Toronto study published in the British science journal Nature concluded that PFOA is one of several toxic gases emitted when Teflon is heated to 680 degrees, which is easy to do, even if cooking an omelet. And there have been at least 94 documented cases of a flulike illness, polymer fumer fever, among industrial workers exposed to Teflon heated beyond 700 degrees.

CURRENT PROJECT:

Twelve Tarrant County (Texas) residents volunteered to have their blood tested for 83 toxic chemicals, many of which are used in common household and office products.

The Star-Telegram (Texas) worked with Dr. Arnold Schecter, an environmental-sciences professor and public-health physician at the University of Texas School of Public Health in Dallas. Blood samples were drawn at Lone Star Screening in Euless and sent to ERGO laboratories in Hamburg, Germany.

For questions or comments, contact Scott Streater at 817-390-7657 or sstreater@star-telegram.com, or Mark Horvit at 817-390-7087 or mhorvit@star-telegram.com

Tags: chemicals, health

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