Guest guest Posted November 17, 2006 Report Share Posted November 17, 2006 Teflon Fever (Flu) JoAnn Guest Nov 17, 2006 14:20 PST --- http://docsaleeby.blogspot.com/2005_04_24_docsaleeby_archive.html JP Saleeby, MD So imagine one morning you pull out your favorite non-stick frying pan, heat up the stovetop, crack open a few eggs and throw on a couple of strips of bacon. While this is not the diet I usually recommend for my patients, despite this fact, something strange happens. Before the food even touches your mouth, you become ill. Acutely ill with headache, nausea, a cough, body aches, chills and even a fever, very similar to the flu. Funny, it could not have been the food, so what then? Well, actually it is a phenomenon known since the 1950's as polymer fume fever. Polymer fume fever also know as Teflon Fever, is caused by off-gassing of some 15 different components of this non-stick compound, a couple of which are known carcinogens. Inhalation seems to be the only way these fumes cause illness. Ingesting food where contact was made with Teflon does not have the same effect. DuPont the manufacturer of Teflon® has for decades known of the flu- like illness resulting from inhalation of fumes from Teflon coated kitchenware. The company as well as the FDA and private researchers have conducted studies into the short term health risks. Interestingly enough, no long-term studies have ever been performed. DuPont contends to this day that while this phenomenon occurs, there are no long-term health risks. The FDA has approved this non-stick material as safe for a " food contact surface " , but the jury is still out in my opinion on it safety concerns regarding fuming at just moderate temperatures. The Environmental Working Group (an industry watchdog) reported in a study released in the middle of 2003, that cookware coated with Teflon-like coatings could reach 700 degrees Fahrenheit in 3-5 minutes, releasing toxic gases and chemicals. While birds have died with exposures from such fumes produced at much lower temperatures (such as 464oF), other animals don't make such good research subjects. Birds and humans seem to be very sensitive, but dogs, mice and other lab animals tend not to be stricken as badly by the gases. Remember in the early days of mining a canary was used by miners as an early warning to gaseous hazards in the underground shafts. The family of substances called perfluorochemicals, or PFCs, provides the world with some of its most popular consumer products. These products include Teflon, Stainmaster and Scotchgard repellants. These PFCs are employed in almost all industry segments, including the aerospace, automotive, building/construction, chemical processing, electrical and electronics, semiconductor, and carpet and textile industries. They are even used in the keep-your-feet-dry Gore-Tex hiking boots. A particular PFC called C8 (ammonium perfluorooctanoate) is used to make Teflon also known as polytetrafluoroethylene, a favorite in the modern kitchen. This slippery substance was discovered by sheer accident in 1938 by Dr. Roy Plunkett at the DuPont research laboratories. He discovered a powder residue after leaving the valve open overnight on a bottle of Freon. Workers at the DuPont manufacturing plant in West Virginia are forced to use respirators by OSHA when working with these substances. Research has also pointed out that smokers are even more susceptible to Teflon Flu, because microparticles, which land on their hands, wind up imbedded in the cigarettes. As a cigarette is smoked, fluorocarbons are then pyrolyzed (burned), and the toxic fumes are inhaled with the cigarette smoke. The most common known products of this pyrolysis include inorganic fluoride, hydrogen fluoride, carbonyl fluoride, and perfluoropropane and they are pretty toxic when inhaled, this according to a 1987 CDC study. DuPont scientists, in their own experiments, found that smoking a cigarette laced with a spec of Teflon about the size of the head of a pin was equivalent to breathing Teflon fumes at high concentrations for a full workday. This exceeds the exposure levels that caused polymer fume fever in DuPont's other human studies. Those exposed in this manner suffered the worst symptoms.Last year the EPA took action to monitor and collect data on the health concerns of PFCs under section 4 of the Toxic Substances Control Act. Once the data is collected and analyzed, a decision will be made by this federal agency as to the continuation of manufacture and use of these compounds in this country. Currently, there is no ban on use of these products in society. The EPA does warn the public to exert vigilance when using Teflon to reduce inhalation exposure posted by JP Saleeby, MD at 6:28 PM Jane Jane Gregorie, L.Ac Was the first acupuncturist to work with Dr. Saleeby at SLI. She now practices in Colorado. ==================================================================== Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 4:26 pm Post subject: Compound in Teflon A 'Likely Carcinogen' By Juliet Eilperin Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, June 29, 2005; Page A04 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2005/06/28/AR2005 062801458.html The Environmental Protection Agency's own scientific advisory panel has identified perfluorooctanoic acid, a chemical compound used to make Teflon, as a " likely carcinogen " in a report it plans to submit to the agency next month. The draft report, which EPA posted on its Web site yesterday, is significant because it could prompt agency officials to regulate the processing agent -- known as PFOA or C-8 -- for the first time. Until now, the EPA has classified PFOA as a " suggested " carcinogen, which requires fewer health precautions. The EPA is in the midst of a major investigation into how the compound, which is used to make stain- and stick-resistant surfaces and materials for products including Gore-Tex fabrics and pizza boxes, gets into consumers' blood and whether it affects their health. It is also seeking millions of dollars in fines from DuPont Co., which makes PFOA in Parkersburg, W.Va., on the grounds that the chemical giant failed for 20 years to report possible health and environmental problems linked to the compound. The scientific advisory panel, whose 17 members will discuss the draft assessment on July 6 before forwarding it to the agency, does not draw conclusions on whether using products made with PFOA, such as nonstick pans, poses a cancer risk. Instead, it says that the fact that animal studies have identified four different kinds of tumors in both male and female rats and mice that had been exposed to the compound convinced a majority of its members that it is a likely carcinogen. Environmental Working Group Senior Vice President Richard Wiles, whose advocacy organization has urged the EPA to regulate the compound, called the panel's findings " huge. " " What this report says is they need to take action, " Wiles said, adding that officials are now required to conduct a cancer-risk assessment of PFOA. " At least we have a shot now at protecting the public health. " EPA spokeswoman Eryn Witcher said yesterday that she could not comment in detail on how the panel's report would affect the agency's risk-assessment process, but she noted that EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson will take its conclusions into account. " This administration and Administrator Johnson have focused on ensuring the best scientific data is used in an open process, " Witcher said. DuPont, which settled a class-action lawsuit brought by residents living near its Parkersburg plant last year for $300 million, has consistently maintained that it has met all federal reporting requirements and that PFOA does not pose a serious health threat. Yesterday, company spokesman R. Clifton Webb said DuPont's studies on its workers suggest that there is no connection between the compound and cancer. " Based on an evaluation of human health and toxicology studies, DuPont believes that the weight of evidence suggests that PFOA exposure does not cause cancer in humans and does not pose a health risk to the general public, " Webb said. " To date, no human health effects are known to be caused by PFOA, even in workers who have significantly higher exposure levels than the general population. " _________________ ===================================================================== Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2005 4:28 pm Post subject: Might chemical in Teflon pose health risk? --- EPA says animal studies will be sent to review board http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6818466/ • Most viewed on MSNBC.com WASHINGTON - A chemical used to make the nonstick substance Teflon is being considered by the Environmental Protection Agency as a potential health risk. The EPA on Wednesday said that exposure to even low levels of perfluorooctanoic acid and its salts, known as PFOA, or C-8, could pose " a potential risk of developmental and other adverse effects. " Officials emphasized their draft risk assessment was not conclusive. " We've not offered any determinations of risks, " said Charles Auer, director of EPA's Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics. --- Auer said the draft report, based on animal studies, would be sent to a science advisory board for helping determining the risks. DuPont and EPA have been sparring over PFOA, used to make many of the company's most popular products, which range from auto fuel systems, firefighting foam and phone cables to computer chips, cookware and clothing. EPA states its 'concerns' The agency said in a statement it " has concerns with respect to the potential nationwide presence of PFOA in blood and with the potential for developmental and other effects suggested by animal studies. " But it also said there are " significant uncertainties in the agency's quantitative assessment of the risks of PFOA. " Chemical maker DuPont Co., which is based in Wilmington, Del., and produces the chemical at a plant in Fayetteville, N.C., said Wednesday it welcomed EPA's report and was trying to minimize people's exposure to the chemical. " Although, to date, no human health effects are known to be caused by PFOA, the company recognizes that the presence of PFOA in human blood raises questions that should be addressed, " DuPont officials said in a statement. Initial research by EPA suggests that PFOA could be carcinogenic in rats — but the cancer hazard for people is less certain. It also indicates the chemical targets the liver and is present in the breast milk of rats. Activists wary The Environmental Working Group, an advocacy organization that brought DuPont's record on PFOA to EPA's attention, said it believes EPA ignored its own scientific advice on defining the cancer-causing potential of the chemical to benefit DuPont. " At every turn in this important process, EPA officials favored DuPont, " said Ken Cook, EWG's president. DuPont said its own study, based on 62 blood and urine tests among 1,000 employees at its Washington Works plant in Parkersburg, W.Va., showed " no human health effects known to be caused " by PFOA. It showed elevated levels of total cholesterol and fats called triglycerides among workers exposed to PFOA, but noted that the study data " did not indicate that PFOA was or was not the cause of the increases in serum cholesterol and triglycerides. " Sol Max, DuPont's chief medical officer, said " no association would be seen in the general public " for cholesterol and triglycerides, because exposure to the chemical was minimal outside a work setting. In September, DuPont and residents around the Ohio Valley Teflon- making plant entered into a proposed legal settlement to resolve complaints that PFOA contaminated private wells and water sources in West Virginia and Ohio. DuPont has agreed to pay as much as $343 million to settle those claims. At an EPA administrative court hearing last month, DuPont battled charges by EPA that it did not fulfill its obligation to release PFOA information to EPA. DuPont said it did and maintained that PFOA was harmless. _________________ JoAnn Guest mrsjo- www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Genes www.alternative-medicine-message-boards.info www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Diets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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