Teflon chemical safe, DuPont report says

Causes of death of W.Va. plant workers studied

News Journal (DE), Jeff Montgomery
Published October 17, 2006

A new worker heath study suggests that controversial chemicals used to make some nonstick and stain-resistant products, pose "no human health effects," Teflon maker DuPont Co. reported Tuesday. "The bottom line on this is that this is a study to look for effects of [perfluorooctanoic acid] on mortality, and there were none in this worker population," said David Boothe, global business manager for DuPont fluoroproducts. "Our belief is we have a study that's very statistically powerful here." The chemical, perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, and similar compounds have been labeled probable carcinogens by some researchers. Environmental Protection Agency regulators have been studying PFOA extensively for years and pressing industry to find safer alternatives. Concern about PFOA began to increase after reports that the chemical has turned up in the bloodstreams of humans and animals around the globe. The unexplained findings already have prompted an industry-supported EPA risk evaluation. One group long critical of DuPont's record on PFOA safety quickly dismissed the company's conclusions as "completely preposterous," and said that the study's focus on cause of death neglected other potential health risks from PFOA. "This looks more like spin than science to me," said Richard Wiles, vice president of Environmental Working Group, a consumer and environmental organization. "There's no other way you can look at it except to say it's a deliberate effort to mislead the public." DuPont's study reviewed the 6,027 people employed at DuPont's Parkersburg, W.Va., Teflon plant between 1948 and the end of 2002, and the causes of death for workers during that period. Results were compared with the West Virginian and national populations. DuPont officials said health effects "almost certainly" would have shown up among workers regularly exposed to the chemical. The study found some connections to "modestly increased" cholesterol levels in the most highly exposed group of workers. One analysis showed a slight rise in heart disease with increased exposure, although the company said the increase could be a random occurrence. Jim Rowe, president of a United Steelworkers union local at DuPont's Chambers Works in Deepwater, N.J., said that his union would study the results. Chambers Works handles chemicals related to PFOA and recently began shipping them to a plant in Mississippi for treatment to remove the compound. "The Steelworkers will follow up and see if it's a credible report," Rowe said. "I'm hoping that it is, because that means we won't have our members getting sick. But we also question why it has taken so long to get information about these chemicals." DuPont is now the nation's only producer of PFOA. Lawsuits across the country have targeted DuPont for releasing the chemical into the environment and drinking water supplies. One class action suit near the company's Parkersburg, W.Va., plant eventually could cost the company more than $300 million. "We do know that this material is present in the general population, albeit at low levels," Boothe said. "We know that it's persistent in the environment, and we know there are questions because of those two issues." EPA spokeswoman Enesta Jones said DuPont's report would be included in the agency's overall risk evaluation for PFOA.