Board: Teflon Cancer Risks Downplayed

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Board: Teflon Cancer Risks Downplayed

 

Source >

http://news./s/ap/20050629/ap_on_he_me/epa_teflon

 

By RANDALL CHASE, Associated Press Writer Wed Jun

29,10:00 AM ET

 

DOVER, Del. - A controversial chemical used by DuPont

Co. to make the nonstick substance Teflon poses more

of a cancer risk than indicated in a draft assessment

by the

Environmental Protection Agency, an independent review

board has found.

 

The EPA stated earlier this year that its draft risk

assessment of perfluorooctanoic acid and its salts

found " suggestive evidence " of potential human

carcinogenicity, based on animal studies.

 

In a draft report released Monday, the majority of

members on an EPA scientific advisory board that

reviewed the agency's report concluded that PFOA, also

known as C-8, is " likely " to be carcinogenic to

humans, and that the EPA should conduct cancer risk

assessments for a variety of tumors found in mice and

rats.

 

Environmentalists hailed the report, which will be

discussed by EPA officials and SAB members in a public

teleconference July 6, as an important step in holding

government regulators and the Delaware-based chemical

giant accountable.

 

The board's findings will increase pressure on the EPA

to conduct human health risk assessments for liver,

breast, pancreatic and testicular cancer, as well as

PFOA's potentially toxic effects on the immune system,

said Richard Wiles, senior vice president for the

Environmental Working Group, an advocacy and research

organization.

 

" This is contrary to the recommendation of the EPA

staff and is a very important conclusion, " said Wiles,

adding that it would be very unlikely for the board to

make any significant changes before issuing its final

report for review by the EPA.

 

" This makes it hard for the EPA not to move forward

aggressively, " he said.

 

Enesta Jones, a spokeswoman for the EPA's Office of

Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances, said

agency officials had not reviewed the advisory board's

report and do not comment on board recommendations

until they are final.

 

" We're still working with industry and other people to

gather data that will help us better understand PFOA, "

she said.

 

DuPont officials would not comment on the report but

said in a prepared statement that human health and

toxicology studies suggest that PFOA exposure does not

cause cancer in humans and does not pose a health risk

to the general public.

 

" 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, "

the company said.

 

The company also said data from its employee health

studies and those conducted by 3M Co., which stopped

manufacturing PFOA in 2000, " deserve greater

consideration in the EPA's final risk assessment

rather than relying solely on animal testing models. "

 

DuPont's studies, which are still ongoing, have found

elevated levels of total cholesterol and fats called

triglycerides among workers exposed to PFOA, but no

indication that PFOA was the cause of increased serum

cholesterol and triglycerides.

 

While PFOA is used to make Teflon, it is not present

in Teflon itself, which is applied to cookware,

clothing, car parts and flooring. PFOA also is used to

produce materials used in firefighting foam, phone

cables and computer chips.

 

Shares of DuPont fell 25 cents to $44.69 in morning

trading on the

New York Stock Exchange.

 

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On the Net:

 

EPA: http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/pfoa/index.htm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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