News Coverage
Chemical industry to use less C8 in its products
Published March 16, 2005
DuPont Co. and other manufacturers have pledged to reduce the use of a chemical that is used to make Teflon, which is the same chemical found in several area water systems.
DuPont and three other companies that compose the Fluoropolymer Manufacturers Group have agreed to reduce amount of perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, in liquid products sold to manufacturers for coating cookware and other products. DuPont spokesman Cliff Webb said Tuesday the PFOA will be replaced by a new ingredient that does not contain fluorine.
The manufacturers group announced on Feb. 9 at an Environmental Protection Agency meeting that it planned to reduce the amount of PFOA, which also goes by the trade name of C8 in products by 90 percent by 2006.
"We will still have to use PFOA. This will not eliminate it. There is no alternative to it, but we are committed to reducing it by 90 percent to our customers," Webb said.
Webb said the decision is part of an industrywide effort to reduce emissions, and he said it likely will not affect the amount of the chemical used at the Washington Works plant near Parkersburg.
The chemical was the subject of the settlement of a class-action lawsuit in which DuPont agreed to pay at least $107.6 million to settle claims from residents in six area water systems in the area who have drinking water contaminated with the chemical.
The chemical is also the subject of an EPA study about how the chemical finds its way into the bloodstream of people and whether it should be characterized as a potential carcinogen.
Webb said the reduction will affect the product that goes out to its customers, who then use the product in its own products. Teflon is widely used for many items, including cookware and other household products.
The announcement was praised by an environmental group that has been studying the effects of the chemical.
"On a local level, it's a great thing that they finally got around to doing this," said Tim Kropp, senior scientist with the Environmental Working Group. "But it's incomplete, it ignores the global issue."
Kropp said the bigger issue is how the chemical breaks down from the products used by consumers and how it enters the bloodstream of people. He said DuPont is reacting to public pressure and the EPA investigation and needs to do more.
Webb said the company has been working to reduce use of the chemicals for more than a decade.