News Coverage
The Sticking Point: Debate Over Teflon
Published November 4, 2004
Bucky Bailey knows that he looks different from other people.
Bailey, who is 22 years old, was born with a birth defect that has required 30 surgeries.
"The worst part would be just looking in the mirror sometimes and saying, 'Why me?'," he said. "What did I do to deserve this?"
His mother believes she now knows why her son was born with a birth defect, Target 5's Lisa Parker reported on Thursday. Sue Bailey blames a chemical she worked with while she was pregnant for making her son's life so difficult. Bailey worked with the chemical C-8, which is one of the ingredients in Teflon.
"No one had ever seen anything like this before," Bailey said of her son's condition. "The doctors didn't know what to do."
Teflon is used in nonstick pans, in stain-resistant carpet and in water-repellent clothing, Parker reported.
"It's so ubiquitous," said Jane Houlihan of the Environmental Working Group. "It's in every home -- we're talking about pizza boxes, butter boxes [and] microwave popcorn."
But of all these places it's expected to be, Parker said, C-8 also lurks in places it shouldn't, such as the depths of Lake Michigan, polar bears in Alaska and the bloodstreams of almost every human being tested for it. Questions are now being raised about the long-term effect of this persistent chemical.
"We're exposed through so many routes," Houlihan said. "Right now, the government is trying to figure out which routes are the most important, which products are giving us the highest exposure."
Parker said DuPont, the company that makes Teflon, is now under fire by the federal Environmental Protection Agency for allegedly failing to disclose health risks the company knew this chemical could pose to its workers and the communities near its plants.
One crucial document is at the center of the EPA investigation, Parker reported. It is an internal DuPont memo tracking the pregnancies of eight employees in the early 80s who worked in a plant where Teflon was made -- notes that indicate two of those pregnancies resulted in birth defects. The government alleges the company hid that document.
"Part of what we're trying to figure out is what DuPont knew, when they knew it and what they did with that information when they did know it," said Tom Skinner of the EPA.
The company is fighting the government's charges, and officials say unequivocally that DuPont did not break the law by withholding what company officials call the "informal" pregnancy survey. Company officials added that 50 years of experience shows that its products are safe.
Critics, though, point to information on DuPont's own Web site that outline a condition some call the "Teflon flu" -- chills, fever and a sore throat suffered by people exposed to Teflon fumes at high temperatures.
DuPont says consumers simply don't cook with the ultra-high heat -- more than 500 degrees -- that causes gases to be released from a Teflon-coated pan. Houlihan said that statement is false.
"DuPont says people don't cook at high temperatures," she said. "That's just not true."
Parker reported that bacon, cooked for the benefit of the camera, brought a nonstick pan to temperatures exceeding 500 degrees in five minutes.
"And then at higher temperatures, in the mid-600s, you are actually getting multiple kinds of toxic gases coming off the pans," Houlihan said.
While DuPont officials said the cases are very rare -- the fumes linked to "Teflon flu" are known to make people sick for up to 48 hours, Parker reported. There is a more drastic effect on pet birds, however. Veterinarians have warned owners for years to keep birds away from Teflon cooking fumes, which leads some to question -- if Teflon can kill birds, what does it do to humans over time?
"We believe there is a reasonable basis for some of those questions and that they need to be answered," Skinner said.
Because of pending litigation, DuPont would not comment on the Bailey's case, but company officials say in general, there is no proven link between C-8 and birth defects. On the question of why there is so much C-8 in the environment, DuPont officials said it is playing a leading role in the EPA's study.
On the issue of Teflon safety, company officials say there is no question -- the product is safe, and points out that no governmental agency has ever suggested consumers stop using Teflon-coated products.
Bucky Bailey, though, is still haunted by the questions surrounding C-8, Parker reported.
"I want to let my voice to be heard," he said. "I want my face to be seen by everybody because for some unknown reason I was born with a deformity. I need to find out what caused that."