EPA: DuPont's C-8 a 'likely' carcinogen

Company denies findings of agency's draft report on chemical used in Teflon

Wilmington News Journal, Jeff Montgomery
Published June 28, 2005

A chemical used to make DuPont Co.'s Teflon coatings and thousands of other consumer and industrial products is a "likely" carcinogen, and may pose greater risks beyond cancer, according to a review by an Environmental Protection Agency advisory panel. The EPA Science Advisory Board's "Perfluorooctanoic Acid Human Health Risk Assessment Review Panel" plans to take public comments on the draft report on July 6 during a meeting in Washington, D.C. Agency officials released the draft document Tuesday in advance of the public comment session. "While human data is ambiguous, two separate feeding studies demonstrate that PFOA is a multisite carcinogen," the report noted. The "likely" designation, officials said, is typically applied to compounds found to cause tumors in more than one species in more than one way "with or without evidence" it causes cancer in humans. Members of the Environmental Working Group, a non-profit organization based in Washington, said the findings appear to back up the EPA's recent decision to launch civil and criminal investigations into DuPont's handling of health information involving PFOA. DuPont faces millions in fines in connection with those probes. "This is significant because it pushes the process along," said Richard Wiles, senior vice president of the Environmental Working Group. "This definitely kick starts it, and really makes it harder for the EPA not to move forward aggressively" with further risk studies. DuPont declined to comment on the draft report in a prepared statement, but said that its own review found that PFOA, sometimes called C-8 by DuPont, was not a carcinogen. The company also said it "recognizes that the presence of PFOA in human blood raises questions that should be addressed." Past studies have found unexplained low levels of the PFOA-type chemicals in the bloodstreams of humans and animals around the globe. Some studies already have provided "suggestive evidence" that the chemicals may increase cancer risks, and may remain in the environment for thousands of years. "Based on an evaluation of human health and toxicology studies, DuPont believes that the weight of evidence suggests that PFOA exposure does not cause cancer in humans, and does not pose a health risk to the general public," the company said. "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 EPA's advisory panel said the EPA underestimated risks from the chemical, including potential for breast and pancreatic cancers. Potential effects on the brain and nervous system could prove an even greater concern, the report said. DuPont already has announced a plan to drastically re-duce the amount of PFOA used in Teflon production by the end of next year. Earlier this year, the EPA released a separate draft report noting that exposure to PFOA may increase health risks of developmental or immune disorders and other health problems. The same report also said blood levels in the general population appear to be hundreds or thousands of times lower than the minimum expected to produce adverse effects in rats and monkeys. But human bodies may retain and concentrate the pollutants for much longer periods than animals, the EPA cautioned. Higher exposure to PFOA-type compounds in the workplace or in neighborhoods around factories that handle the chemicals also are a concern. DuPont has been under intense legal pressure for its handling of PFOA disclosures. The U.S. Justice Department last month subpoenaed company records involving the compound for use in a grand jury investigation. DuPont also recently set aside $15 million to cover costs for a tentative EPA settlement involving charges that DuPont failed to report health and pollution risks from the same chemical. Earlier this year, DuPont agreed to pay $107.6 million to settle claims in West Virginia that the company's PFOA-related chemicals contaminated water supplies around DuPont's Washington Works, W.Va., plant. Terms of the court-approved agreement could require the company to spend millions more if the pollution is linked to health problems. "Scientists independent of chemical industry money looked at the toxicity of this chemical, and the verdict is clear: This Teflon chemical should be considered a likely human carcinogen," Wiles said in a prepared statement calling for maximum EPA fines against the company.