DuPont Has Withheld Company Study From EPA for 22 Years

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http://www.ewg.org/issues/PFCs/20030411/ DuPont Has Withheld Company Study From

EPA for 22 YearsResults Show Teflon Chemical in Babies’ BloodEWG Alleges Serious

Violation of Federal Law, Seeks Federal Investigation

Washington, April 11 — The Environmental Working Group (EWG) alleged today that

the DuPont chemical company has violated federal law by withholding from the

government for the last 22 years a company study that detected a toxic,

Teflon-related chemical in the umbilical cord blood of one infant born to a

company worker, and in the blood of another worker’s baby. The same internal

company research also records serious birth defects in two of seven babies born

to a group of female Teflon plant workers, whose pregnancies were monitored by

DuPont’s medical staff. In the same year, female workers were transferred out of

DuPont's Teflon production facility in Parkersburg, West Virginia, out of

concern for their exposure to the chemical, known as perfluorooctanoic acid

(PFOA).

 

EWG is petitioning US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator

Christine Todd Whitman to investigate DuPont for withholding the study from the

Agency and is asking her to fine the company if it broke federal law. The study,

which has never been submitted to EPA, became public only last year as the

result of a class action lawsuit brought by 3,000 West Virginians living near

the DuPont plant. They allege that PFOA pollution from the facility contaminates

local tap water and threatens health.

 

The EWG petition comes on the eve of an EPA announcement that is expected to

require expedited health studies and chemical data on PFOA from DuPont and other

manufacturers — and similar information from companies that produce other

members of the family of chemicals called “perfluorochemicals” (PFCs). EPA

officials have expressed mounting concern over PFOA because it has been found to

contaminate human blood pervasively and does not appear to break down in the

environment. In 2000, EPA forced a chemical cousin of PFOA off the market. Known

as PFOS, it was the original chemical ingredient in 3M’s Scotchgard products.

PFOS has also been found almost universally in human blood, does not decay in

the environment and is considered toxic.

 

“We suspect, but cannot prove at this point, that DuPont has been deliberately

withholding this information to avoid EPA action against PFOA and its highly

profitable Teflon product line,” said EWG Vice President of Research Jane

Houlihan. “This constitutes a serious violation of federal law that requires

companies to report immediately any evidence they uncover that a chemical may

pose a substantial health risk. More than 20 years too late, we now know that

this Teflon chemical is in the blood of virtually every American. The EPA has

belatedly concluded that it presents serious human health risks, in particular

to women and their children.”

 

DuPont could face civil and criminal penalties of up to $25,000 a day if it is

found in violation of Section 8(e) of the Toxic Substances Control Act, which

gives companies 15 days to disclose any evidence that a chemical poses a

substantial health risk. EWG also alleges that DuPont suppressed company tests

conducted as early as 1984 that found PFOA contamination in the tap water of

Lubeck, West Virginia and Little Hocking, Ohio — the two communities near the

plant.

 

EWG is a nonprofit research and advocacy organization that uses the power of

information to protect human health and the environment. The Group has published

the first, comprehensive report on the PFC family of global contaminants at

www.ewg.org.

 

 

 

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