C8 levels to drop under voluntary EPA program

Charleston Gazette, Ken Ward Jr.
Published January 26, 2006

Federal regulators on Wednesday announced a voluntary program they hope will "virtually eliminate" new releases of the toxic chemical C8 into consumer products and the environment. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it invited eight makers of C8, similar products and C8 precursors to take part in the new "global stewardship program." DuPont has already agreed to take part, and was calling reporters Wednesday morning to alert them about an EPA press conference later in the day. In December, DuPont agreed to pay $10.25 million in fines to settle EPA allegations that it hid important information about C8's dangers. But EPA officials said Wednesday they are not concerned that DuPont might try to skirt a voluntary emissions reduction program. Charles Auer, director of the EPA's Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, said the new program would require the EPA to publish its own C8 emissions reports and submit company data as part of the agency's Toxic Release Inventory. "All of this should add up in a way that helps us and the public to understand and appreciate the kinds of progress that are indeed being achieved," he said. Companies that agree to participate would commit to reducing facility emissions and product content levels of C8 by 95 percent below 2000 levels by 2010. Susan B. Hazen, acting assistant administrator for the EPA's Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances, said that companies would also agree to work toward eliminating all sources of C8 exposure by 2015. Companies are being asked to make these reductions in their U.S. plants, as well as in global markets. "This is just a positive move for the environment, and the fact that it is a positive move for the environment is good for all of us," Hazen said during a telephone conference with reporters. In a prepared statement, DuPont vice president Susan Stalnecker said the Wilmington, Del.-based company has already "been aggressively reducing" its C8 emissions. "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," Stalnecker said in the statement. The Washington-based Environmental Working Group, which has previously criticized EPA actions on C8, praised Wednesday's announcement. "This is one of those days when we feel that the Environmental Protection Agency is at its best," said Ken Cook, president of the group. "They are asking companies to err on the side of public safety and precaution." The EPA announcement comes just a week before the expected publication of a near-final draft of a Science Advisory Board review of the EPA's risk assessment on C8 and similar chemicals. Previously, a board panel of experts had said in a preliminary report that EPA should upgrade its rating of C8's toxicity to list the chemical as a "likely human carcinogen." C8 is another name for ammonium perfluorooctanoate, or PFOA. DuPont has used it since the 1950s at its Washington Works plant south of Parkersburg to make Teflon and other similar, nonstick and stain-resistant products that are widely used. Researchers are finding that people around the world have C8 in their blood. The blood levels may be generally very small, but it is unclear whether these amounts are dangerous. Nonstick cookware may be one route of exposure to C8, but recent studies suggest that food packaging may be a much bigger source. The other companies that the EPA has invited to participate in the voluntary program are 3M/Dyneon, Arkema Inc., AGC Chemicals/Asahi Glass, Ciba Specialty Chemicals, Daikin and Solvay Solexis.