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builtbeast

EPA asks firms to curb use of Teflon chemical

DuPont, seven others expected to comply with phaseout of toxin

By Marla Cone
Posted January 26 2006

In a rare move to phase out a widely used industrial compound, the Environmental Protection Agency announced yesterday that it is asking all U.S. companies to virtually eliminate public exposure to a toxic chemical used to make Teflon and thousands of other products.

Although the effort is voluntary, the federal government has rarely taken such a sweeping, accelerated action against an industrial compound. The eight companies that use perfluorooctanoic acid to make an array of nonstick and stain-resistant products are expected to comply, cutting releases from their plants and products by 95 percent over the next four years and completely by 2015.

DuPont, which manufactures Teflon and has used the compound for more than 50 years, immediately pledged to meet the deadlines. The voluntary phaseout will not end the sale of Teflon and other products, but it is supposed to drastically curtail the release of PFOA into the atmosphere.

PFOA has contaminated the bloodstream of most Americans and is polluting the environment throughout much of the world. In laboratory animals exposed to high doses, PFOA causes liver cancer, reduced birth weight, immune suppression and developmental problems. In humans, the effects of lower doses are unknown, but it is transferred to fetuses in the womb.

"The science on PFOA is still coming in, but the concern is there. Acting now to minimize it is really the right thing to do for our health and our environment," said Susan Hazen, an EPA acting assistant administrator.

Under the EPA plan, the companies can use the chemical in manufacturing as long as it doesn't turn up in its products and is not released into the environment.

Yesterday's announcement is considered the EPA's most aggressive effort to restrict an industrial compound in more than 15 years, when it enacted a regulation banning asbestos.

Environmentalists, who have criticized most EPA actions under the Bush administration, were pleased.

"This is one of those days when the Environmental Protection Agency is at its best," said Environmental Working Group President Ken Cook. "With its announcement today, the EPA is challenging an entire industry to err on the side of precaution and public safety, and invent new ways of doing business."

The group, which for several years has investigated and heavily criticized DuPont's handling of PFOA, also applauded the company, saying its new pledge shows it is "forward looking, environmentally sensitive [and] setting the pace for a cleaner chemical industry."

Last month, the EPA fined DuPont $16.5 million for allegedly hiding data on the toxicity and health effects of PFOA for more than 20 years and for contaminating the drinking water supply in the Ohio Valley, next to a DuPont plant in West Virginia. It was the largest civil administrative penalty in the EPA's history.

The seven other companies that use PFOA and its related substances are 3M/Dyneon, Arkema Inc., AGC Chemicals/Asahi Glass, Ciba Specialty Chemicals, Clariant Corp., Daikin and Solvay Solexis. They were asked to respond by March 1.

Under a 1976 federal law that governs toxic substances, the EPA cannot ban chemicals outright without a years-long rule-making process and protracted legal fights, so it is seeking voluntary compliance.

"This stewardship program will take us further and get us there faster" than a regulation, Hazen said.

The companies are being called upon to reduce PFOA released into the environment and the PFOA content in their products by 95 percent by 2010, using 2000 as a baseline. They also are asked to eliminate all such sources of public exposure no later than 2015 -- not just in the United States but at all their global operations. Included are all chemicals that are precursors to PFOA or break down into it in the environment.

The agreement "will, if properly implemented, dramatically reduce and eventually eliminate" PFOA in the environment, Cook said. Nevertheless, environmentalists said they continue to urge a ban on PFOA. "No one should confuse the agreement announced today with a ban," he said.

But it would be the largest voluntary phaseout in EPA history, affecting a line of products worth billions of dollars a year.

Alastair Iles, a toxic chemical policy expert, called the effort "definitely unprecedented."

"It is the first time that I know of EPA actually calling for a reduction of specific chemical used in products, even if it is voluntary," Iles said.

DuPont Vice President Susan Stalnecker said that her company has already been "aggressively reducing" PFOA emissions into the environment. "Having achieved a 94 percent reduction in global manufacturing emissions by year-end 2005, we are well on our way to meet the goals and objectives established by the EPA stewardship program," she said.

The chemical for decades has been considered essential in making nonstick and stain-resistant fluoropolymers and is an unintended byproduct in fluorotelomer products. In addition to Teflon cookware, fluoropolymers are used by the aerospace, transportation, textile and electronics industries in clothing, car fuel systems, computer chips, telecommunications equipment, electronic wiring and other products. Fluorotelomers are used in firefighting foams and in textiles, paper and other surfaces to make them stain-, oil- and water-resistant.

David Boothe, global business director of DuPont Fluoro Products, said that it will continue to use PFOA to make Teflon and other fluoropolymers because there is no known way to make the products without it. But he said DuPont has already developed emissions-control technology that will cut 98 percent of PFOA released into the environment at its manufacturing plants worldwide by 2007. DuPont will provide the technology royalty-free to competitors.

DuPont also has altered its manufacturing process to eliminate traces of PFOA that have unintentionally been left in fluorotelomer products such as firefighting foams, Boothe said.

No one knows how the chemical is getting into the bloodstream of so many people and even in the bodies of Arctic polar bears and other animals. While it is used in production of cookware, it is not found in the cookware, clothing and other fluoropolymers after manufacture.

DuPont representatives said that their products are safe for use, and EPA officials have agreed, saying there is no need to stop using Teflon products. "The sources of PFOA in the environment and the pathways by which people are exposed are not known," the agency said.

Marla Cone writes for the Los Angeles Times.

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builtbeast

That's an interesting article Pammie. :nosthumbs

I've never had Teflon anyway so won't be missing it.

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skelooth

I've actually known about this for a few years. I continue to buy teflon products anyway because it's impossible to escape.

The problem with teflon is when it's heated to high tempratures, the toxin gets released into the air. I first became aware of the 'non stick pan of doom' problem when I was reading a parrot magazine.... apparently the teflon fumes killed someone's birds

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R I P

Lift

bah teflon is so easy to keep clean as well

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KingOfChaos

I'd rather have a black skillet and a non-stick spray or oil.

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