Teflon Press Release - Research on DuPonts Teflon
Findings by U Penn Researcher on Teflon Chemical
By EWG - Press Release
Aug 16, 2005, 14:10
TO: Interested Media
FR: Dr. Tim Kropp, Jane Houlihan / Environmental
Working Group
RE: Findings by U Penn Researcher on Teflon
Chemical
Last night, Dr. Edward Emmett of the University of Pennsylvania
reported on the newly completed blood study of 378 Ohio residents at a community
meeting in Vincent, Ohio. Vincent is one of several southeast Ohio towns
drinking tap water contaminated with the Teflon chemical from operations at
DuPont's Parkersburg, West Virginia plant. Other communities with
Teflon-contaminated tap water include Little Hocking, Cutler, and Belpre, Ohio;
Columbus, Georgia; and Oakdale, Minnesota.
As noted in today's Charleston
Gazette, the top finding in this research is that people should avoid drinking
tap water contaminated with a parts-per-billion level of the Teflon chemical
known as C8 (or PFOA), after finding that the chemical accumulates in children,
and builds up in human blood at levels 106 times higher than those in tap water.
The study author specifically recommended that parents avoid using the polluted
water in infant formula, and called his new findings on children's blood levels
"the exact opposite of what we would want to see from a public-health
perspective."
Dr. Emmett's study findings showed that Ohio residents
drinking Teflon-contaminated tap water face accumulated high levels of C8,
especially children. Among study findings are the following:
* The
highest blood levels of the Teflon chemical C8 are found in children ages 6 and
younger, and people over 60. Levels in children are of particular concern, since
C8 is linked to a wide array of birth defects and developmental problems in lab
studies.
* Ohio residents drinking contaminated tap water have median levels
of C8 more than 60 times higher than the national median level (340 ppb versus
5.6 ppb).
Though the health effects of greatest concern to federal
officials are cancer and development effects, Dr. Emmett tested for liver and
thyroid damage among the people tested, which were not detected in this
study.
It's important to note that the study did not assess the most
sensitive health effects linked to the Teflon chemical in lab studies - cancer
and developmental harm - the two health problems of greatest concern to the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency and its outside expert panel that recently found
C8 to be a "likely human carcinogen." These health effects could not be
addressed by the new study because the study population was too small to find
effects.
In addition to recommending bottled water for local residents,
Dr. Emmett advised the State of West Virginia to reassess its controversial tap
water safety level, developed in close coordination with DuPont and 150 times
higher than DuPont's original tap water safety level for company employees (150
ppb versus DuPont's 1 ppb safety limit).
The Teflon chemical C8 is the
subject of an ongoing priority safety review at EPA because of its unique
combination of toxicity and persistence Ð the chemical never breaks down in the
environment. The chemical pollutes the blood of more than 90 percent of
Americans, due to exposure to stain repellants that coat hundreds of products,
such as food wraps, carpeting and furniture.
EPA has sued DuPont over
suppressing Ohio tap water pollution studies, and studies showing C8 in cord
blood from babies born with birth defects to female employees at DuPont's
Parkersburg plant. This new University of Pennsylvania study provides further
confirmation of the capacity for the Teflon chemical to build up in people's
blood at levels of concern.
see also:
Breaking News
Teflon Lawsuit - Free Resource Center- News & Warnings - DuPont TeflonTeflon Lawsuit - Teflon DuPont Breaking News; Learn how Teflon Causes Cancer
W & L Teflon Press Release
Weitz & Luxenberg Investigates Lawsuits After DuPont Admits it Hid StudiesPress Release: 11/17/2005: Weitz & Luxenberg Investigates Lawsuits After DuPont Admits it Hid Studies
News & Warnings
Teflon Lawsuit - Free Resource Center- News & Warnings - DuPont TeflonDuPont Teflon Lawsuit News, Warnings and Information
