News Coverage
Teflon: the miracle comes unstuck
Published November 24, 2004
The first alarm bells rang about four years ago when the makers of Scotchgard ever so quietly ditched the chemical recipe we trusted for decades to protect our lounge sofas and car upholstery.
America's 3M company didn't want to create too much of a hoohah about the health dangers of its stain-proof treatments.
Scotchgard had always been "safe" it said, but the company hinted rather vaguely that there could be some trouble afoot.
And now it seems that the game may be up.
Perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs for short) have gone on trial in the United States for mass assault, with intent to do grievous global harm. Culpable homicide charges could follow.
According to tests done in America, Japan and elsewhere, this all-but indestructible group of man-made chemicals has crept into the blood of almost every living creature in the northern hemisphere and will remain there for several years.
No tests have been done in South Africa, but our blood is almost certainly polluted with the same chemicals.
And medical tests, sponsored mainly by the industries which benefit from PFCs, are showing ever-stronger evidence of potential health damage to humanity and wildlife - from cancer to birth defects and weakened immune-systems.
Earlier this year, Teflon-giant DuPont was charged with violating United States' toxic substance laws after it allegedly covered up the results of blood tests on pregnant chemical workers from the early 1980s.
In a group of seven female DuPont staff, two mothers gave birth to children with confirmed or suspected birth defects similar to those seen in a disputed laboratory rat study.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) charges that DuPont failed to provide immediate notification of tests showing "substantial risk of injury to human health", including birth defects and liver damage.
Had this evidence been disclosed 20 years ago, the agency said the US government might have been "more expeditious" in trying to protect public health from the uncontrolled use of perfluorooctanoic acids (PFOA) and other PFC compounds.
DuPont, which denies the charges, now faces fines of up to $313 million (R1.9 billion) for the non-disclosure claim and other charges of polluting drinking water in West Virginia.
According to DuPont's 56-page denial, the tests did confirm the presence of this chemical compound in the blood of women workers and unborn children.
However, it says the mere presence of a chemical in blood does not amount to evidence of substantial risk.
The case is scheduled for hearing on December 16.
Two months ago the com-pany also agreed to spend R518 million to settle a class-action lawsuit linked to the pollution of drinking water next to a Teflon factory.
But perhaps the biggest nightmare for DuPont and 3M is the prospect of new laws to regulate these chemicals, as well as global media publicity which threatens to dent profits and consumer confidence.
The 3M company took a "voluntary" decision in May 2000 to phase out the use of a group of sister-chemicals after a government investigation showed evidence of unexpected toxicity.
Both chemical groups (PFOA and PFOS) have been used widely throughout the world - virtually unregulated - since the 1950s.
The company said its decision to phase out the chemicals was for "environmental" reasons, but the New York Times reported that if 3M hadn't jumped, the EPA would certainly have pushed the company into halting their use.
The Environmental Working Group (EWG), a Washington DC-based watchdog group which maintains a website on the controversy, charges that 3M was aware of the hazards for nearly 20 years, but only responded under threat of government regulation.
Less than a year before the phase-out, 3M was still pushing for approval of PFOS in microwave popcorn bags.
More recently, the US EPA said it had pushed PFOA to the top of the pile of potentially dangerous chemicals and a new human safety review is due to be published soon.
The history of Teflon
Teflon, as it came to be known, was discovered virtually by accident in 1938 by the DuPont scientist Roy Plunkett.
At the time, he was tinkering with Freon refrigerants.
While checking on a frozen, compressed sample of gases, he found they had changed form spontaneously into a white and waxy solid state to form the new compound polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE).
It was one of the "most slippery materials" in existence, according to DuPont, and the non-stick properties led to a range of revolutionary uses in anything from frying pans to stain repellent fabrics and the aerospace industry.
The first products were sold under the Teflon brand name in 1946. But it was the discovery of a separate detergent-like chemical compound (PFOA) which has sparked more immediate concerns.
Though this chemical is not a major component, there is concern that traces are contained in Teflon or in the gases emitted from heated cooking pans.
The health risks
As far back as the eighteenth century, the British coal mining industry realised the wisdom of sending canary birds down mineshafts.
If the canaries stopped singing, or keeled over, miners had early warning that they were being exposed to dangerous gases or the risk of methane gas explosions.
Yet when you buy a Teflon-coated, non-stick frying pan, your local department store is unlikely to warn you of the dangers of Teflon fumes killing your pet budgies and parrots.
If it pulverises the lungs of pet birds, what does it do to our lungs, or the growing lungs of our children and embryos in the womb?
There are several research reports which document the death of birds around the world from Teflon and other PFC fumes.
A recent study by vets at the University of Missouri traced the death of more than 1 000 broiler chickens to special heating bulbs coated with the Teflon chemical PTFE.
A study in 1975 documented the death of five pet cockatiels which died within 30 minutes of being exposed to fumes from an over-heated frying pan coated with non-stick PTFE chemicals.
The owner of the birds also got sick from "polymer fume fever."
Another study from 1975 records a woman coughing and gasping for breath when a Teflon component melted in her malfunctioning microwave oven. Two parakeets died within minutes, and the woman's lungs were damaged.
But there is still too little data about the health effects on humans from Teflon.
Teflon is everywhere
"Teflon: It's everywhere!" is the proud mantra of the DuPont chemical corporation which has raked in billions of dollars from the sale of non-stick cookware and allied products for nearly 40 years.
DuPont has a website where consumers can dis-cover just how pervasive the chemicals have become in modern society. Many domestic light-bulbs, for example, are coated with a heat coating to make them shatter-proof, while carpets, sofas and clothing can be doused with chemicals to make them stain-resistant.
In the kitchen, small traces of these chemicals can be found in non-stick pots and pans, plastic place mats, non-stick baking and biscuit sheets, kitchen tools or the lining of ovens. Elsewhere in the house they are used in shower curtains, leather luggage, hairsprays and shampoos, irons and ironing-board covers, floor polishes and several motor-car components.
They are also used widely in industry, from fire-fighting foams, computer and electronics components to brake fluids in Boeing aircraft.
What is South Africa doing?
The short answer to this question is: "Nothing . . . yet."
The national Health Depart-ment acknowledges it does not have the capacity to conduct full-scale chemical safety tests on food packaging to the same extent as the US EPA or European safety bodies.
"We are simply not as advanced as the US or Europe in this field," an official noted.
Maryke Herbst, assistant director in the department's food section, said local legislation to protect consumers dates back to the Food and Disinfectants Act of 1929.
This law places the onus on manufacturers to ensure the public is not exposed to harm or injury from food packaging.
But recognising that "some things can fall through the gaps," the Health Department was also a member of the international Codex Alimentarius commission, which sets limits for chemical levels in food. Herbst said if bodies like Codex or US EPA identify new concerns with Teflon-related chemicals, SA will be guided by their recommendations.
No evidence could be found that any work is being done to monitor PFCs in the blood of South Africans.
Most industrialised countries only began to investigate the issue very recently.
Japan, for example, ordered the first tests about three years ago. So far, only a few human blood samples have been collected, but all showed measu-rable levels of PFOS compounds according to the Japanese National Institute of Advanced Industrial Sciences.
The chemicals were also found in the blood of sea creatures in several parts of Japan.
High levels of PFOA were found in the blood of Taegu residents, South Korea's third-largest city. The Teflon scare also triggered "panic" among Chinese consumers in June this year.
The Standard newspaper reported that stores in Guangdong province pulled non-stick cookware from their shelves after the US EPA decision to review the safety of PFOA.