INSIDER SAYS DUPONT HID C-8 SAFETY RISKS

(11/17/2005)

Who or what to believe. Has exposure or dumping of DuPont's C-8 caused public health problems? Now comes some new assertions. According to internal DuPont documents and a former employee, the company hid studies showing the risks of a Teflon-related chemical. The studies allegedly claim that a product used to line candy wrappers, pizza boxes, microwave popcorn bags and hundreds of other food containers, may have caused problems. They say the chemical Zonyl can rub off the liner and get into food. Once in a person's body, it can break down into a chemical known as P-F-O-A or C-8. That chemical is used in the making of Teflon-coated cookware. The Environmental Protection Agency has been trying to decide whether to classify P-F-O-A as a "likely" human carcinogen. The Food and Drug Administration says in a letter released yesterday by DuPont, it was continuing to monitor the safety of P-F-O-A chemicals in food. Former DuPont chemical engineer, Glenn Evers, told reporters at a news conference that the company long suppressed its studies on the chemical. In West Virginia, DuPont agreed to pay nearly $108 million dollars to settle a class-action lawsuit involving C-8. Residents around the plant near Parkersburg, said that the chemical contaminated their drinking water supplies. An estimated 60,000 Mid-Ohio Valley residents are currently being tested for health problems related to C-8.

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