Chemical faces scrutiny

Toronto Star, Rita Daly
Published November 19, 2005

It's been found in river otters in Oregon and polar bears in the Arctic. It now also circulates in the blood of 95 per cent of the world's population and will remain in our bloodstreams for decades. But consumers need not be alarmed by PFOA, a man-made chemical used to make everything from Teflon-coated frying pans and utensils to stain-repellent clothing - mainly because we don't know enough about it yet, scientists say. New fears were raised this week when chemical maker DuPont Co. was accused by a former company engineer of covering up tests from two decades ago that showed a product called Zonyl RP, which makes paper resistant to water and oil, is absorbed at three times the accepted level. The fat-phobic paper is widely used in the food-packaging industry in microwave popcorn bags, hamburger and french fries packaging, pet food and cookie bags, pizza box liners and candy wrappers. Critics say once absorbed in the body, Zonyl is broken down into PFOA or perfluorooctanic acid, a detergent-like chemical that some studies suggest causes cancer and other harmful health effects in animals. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is investigating PFOA, which is also used to make stove hoods and stain-proofed carpets, to see if it causes cancer or other health problems in people. Health Canada said it is reviewing the whistleblower's allegations to determine if there is any risk to human health, although officials said that to the best of their knowledge, Zonyl has never been included in a formulation for food-packaging material approved for use here. The product is also now under review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. DuPont has called the accusations made by its former employee false and issued a statement saying its products are safe for consumer use. University of Toronto chemist Scott Mabury, a well-known expert in the field, said it's important to know whether the coatings lead to harmful exposure, but added, "I don't think people can say one way or the other." PFOA, which belongs to the family of perfluorochemicals known as PFCs, is so ubiquitous that polar bears are now the creatures most contaminated by these compounds. What scientists don't exactly know is how it got into these animals and into our blood. "Is it food or is it simply living in our homes where the carpets are coated, the fabrics are coated, some of the paper products are coated, or are the alcohols (from fluorinated materials like Zonyl) off-gassing into the air and we breathe them in and convert it to PFOA? We need to find out how it happens so we can take direct action to stop the transfer," Mabury said. Critics say what is most frightening is that PFOA does not break down in the human body or the environment. "Some contaminants like PCBs partition into the fat, but this one actually stays in your blood. We're stuck with what we got," said Tim Kropp, a toxicologist with the Environmental Working Group, a Washington-based watchdog. Queen's University toxicologist Poh-Gek Forkert said the best advice for consumers is to minimize exposure until more is known. "It's in so many products and we really don't know what a safe level is," she said. "If we keep using it, there's going to be an increase in exposure." With files from Star wire services