DuPont to Study Chemical's Health Impact

Associated Press, Staff
Published October 16, 2006

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (AP) - Scientists for DuPont Co. will keep studying the effects of a chemical used to make Teflon because they can't entirely rule out a connection to slightly elevated levels of kidney cancer, heart disease and diabetes among workers, the company said Tuesday. However, a health study released Tuesday of about 6,000 current and former West Virginia employees shows death rates among workers are no higher than at seven DuPont plants in other states, the population of West Virginia or the rest of the nation's population, said Dr. Sol Sax, the company's chief medical officer. The employees worked at DuPont's Washington Works plant between 1948 and 2002. The plant uses ammonium perfluorooctaonate, also known as C8 or PFOA, to produce the nonstick coating. While only 12 people died of kidney cancer, Sax said the finding couldn't be ignored. The 20 diabetes deaths, however, could be attributed to living habits in West Virginia that "might not be as good as neighboring states," he said. West Virginia leads the nation in adult diabetes at 10.4 percent. Researchers looked at heart disease because a 2005 study of 1,000 Washington Works employees showed those who worked closest to C8 had increased levels of total cholesterol. The latest study found a slight risk of heart disease. Sax said it could be a random occurrence, but DuPont couldn't discount "the fact of a small increase to those most heavily exposed." "We just don't have enough data to say conclusively ... there is no link," he said. There is no timetable for conducting the additional studies, he said. The latest information will be useful, though, because the results can be expanded to other industrial workers exposed to C8, Sax said. Richard Wiles with the Environmental Working Group in Washington, D.C., called DuPont's health announcement "more like spin than science." DuPont has apparently found some health risks and needs to study them, he said. Though used since World War II, C8's long-term effects on humans are unknown. DuPont has long maintained there are no harmful health effects, and Sax said Tuesday the new study supports that conclusion. Yet, owners of Teflon-coated pots and pans have sued the Delaware-based company, claiming DuPont failed to disclose possible health risks. And a group of scientific advisers to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency voted earlier this year to recommend that C8 be considered a likely carcinogen. DuPont also is currently paying for a health study on whether there is a link between C8 and health problems among 70,000 West Virginia and Ohio residents who drank water contaminated with the chemical. The study settled a class-action lawsuit filed in 2001 by residents living in six water districts. C8 accumulates in the blood, and preliminary results of area residents involved in the health screening show they have 25 times more of the chemical in their blood than the regular population. A science panel looking at a possible link between C8 and human health risks has said it could take up to four years to get results.