Teflon May be Just the Tip of the Iceberg

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Teflon May be Just the Tip of the Iceberg

 

A New York Times article, reprinted on the Environment Working Group

Web site, looks at the current raft of lawsuits concerning the health

risks of Teflon, and their possible effects on Environmental

Protection Agency (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 European Union to enact stricter

controls on chemical use and labeling. The United States has not

followed suit, because in the late 1990s 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 50 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

percent 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 have been

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

 

Dr. Mercola's Comment:

 

The most telling piece of information this article provides is the

pathetic means that the U.S. government uses to protect you from

dangerous chemicals: a voluntary testing program.

 

In other words, tests not required by law, performed by the very

people trying to sell the products being tested. Well, such tests are

performed for some chemicals, anyway; but only ones produced in excess

of a million pounds per year even qualify.

 

Just how often are these tests going to come to the conclusion that

the chemical in question is dangerous? Not very often at all, if ever.

Tests by biased, corporate-employed researchers are going to result in

biased, corporation-friendly results. On the rare occasions that they

don't, it's easy for businesses to hide the results; they aren't

required to publish them, after all. DuPont burying the health risks

of Teflon is a case in point.

 

This is typical of the U.S. government's uncaring attitude toward your

health. The FDA gets all of its product safety data from the

corporations themselves, and, thanks to the infamous User Fee Act, is

even partly funded by corporations now. Are they going to stand up to

the people who pay their salaries? Unlikely.

 

Meanwhile, the EPA regulates five chemicals out of 80,000. Five. Do

you honestly believe that only five of the chemicals currently in use

in commercial products are potentially hazardous to your health? How

would the EPA even know if they were, since pre-market testing is

voluntary, comes from biased sources, and frequently isn't even

performed at all?

 

Many studies have shown that PFOA causes cancer and other health

problems in laboratory animals. I'm glad to see that the EPA has

finally come around to the same conclusion that many of us have known

about for years. And if PFOA's toxicity does end up ushering in a new

era of sensible chemical regulation, strict guidelines, and unbiased

safety testing, then perhaps some good will come out of the Teflon

disaster after all.

 

Personally, though, I'm not holding my breath. Government regulatory

agencies have been pawns of big business for years now, and positive

change has been slow in coming.

 

So what can you do to minimize your exposure to all these chemicals?

 

Since eating is the most likely way you will introduce the majority of

these chemicals into your body, you should clearly focus most of your

attention on this strategy first.

 

Minimize your restaurant food and have home-prepared meals as

frequently as possible.

 

Take your lunch to work. Avoid purchasing fast foods.

 

Purchase organic whenever possible, as that will dramatically reduce

your exposure to many of these chemicals.

 

Related Articles:

 

Toxic Chemicals Found in Nearly ALL Foods

 

Chemicals in Many Cosmetics Detrimental to Your Unborn Son

 

The Toxic Bucket: How Environmental Medicine Unloads the Burden of

Synthetic Chemicals From the Body