News Coverage
Toxic Chemical Exposure
Published July 19, 2004
South Korea has been exposed to the toxic chemical perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), according to a recent survey.
Residents living around Taegu, the nation's third largest city, were found to have more than average levels of PFOA in their bodies compared to people surveyed abroad.
PFOA is used for making a range of daily necessities such as frying pans and disposable cups.
Long-term exposure to the chemical causes deformations in laboratory animal fetuses. It may cause liver cancer and birth defects among humans, though there is no proof of adverse health effects yet, scientists say.
By gender, women here were found to have three to 30 times as much PFOA in their bodies as their foreign counterparts. Men in South Korea also had higher amounts of the toxic chemical.