Thursday, September 06, 2012

It is Fluoride, Jim, but not as we know it

So... industrial accidents caused by DuPont and its fluoride derived industries. See http://assets.usw.org/resources/hse/resources/Walking-the-Talk-Duponts-Untold-Safety-Failures.pdf    

As you well know, I am continually opposed to dumping hydrofluorosilicic acid into our drinking water, as this by-product of the phosphate fertiliser industry is not only highly corrosive and toxic, but is un-regulated by any government department & has never been licenced for use as medication, which is what it is being used for when they make us drink it.

Today I have another fluoride culprit, which I only found out about today, but some fast research has shown that for the past 6 years the American EPA has been at odds with DuPont over their use of, and hiding the negative effects of, another fluoride derivative, namely Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), commonly used in Teflon and many household coatings... have YOU checked your cookware lately?

Articles courtesy of  processingmagazine.com 

September 9th, 2012 -

Common chemical linked to heart disease, researchers find

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a common industrial chemical used in the manufacture of many household products, may be associated with higher risks of cardiovascular disease, according to a study by researchers at the West Virginia University School of Public Health.
PFOA, also known as C8, is a manmade, perfluorinated carboxylic acid and fluorosurfactant. One of its main industrial applications is as a surfactant in the emulsion polymerization of fluoropolymers. It has been detected in the blood of more than 98% of the U.S. population.
WVU researchers examined 1,216 subjects from the 1999-2003 National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey, a major program of the National Center for Health Statistics, which is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The team found that increased PFOA levels were positively associated with cardiovascular disease and peripheral artery disease, independent of traditional risk factors, such as age, sex and race/ethnicity.
“These two factors – increased PFOA levels and cardiovascular disease – are co-existing together for some reason,” said Dr. Anoop Shankar, the lead author of the study. “To determine the cause and effect, we would have to do follow-up studies over time, which we are, in fact, doing. At this point, we cannot say that one caused the other.”
In 2006, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency worked with eight major companies in the industry to launch the 2010/15 PFOA Stewardship Program, in which companies committed to reduce global facility emissions and product content of PFOA and related chemicals by 95% by 2010, and to work toward eliminating emissions and product content by 2015.

December 2010 -

3M, DuPont Settle Patent Fight Over Coating Process for Teflon

3M Co. and DuPont Co. settled their patent dispute over a process of making protective coatings including Teflon that are free of a chemical suspected of causing cancer, according to Bloomberg. The companies submitted a filing in federal court in Minneapolis seeking dismissal of the U.S. suit, filed in March. DuPont and 3M were among companies that agreed to eliminate perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, from products including Teflon by 2015 amid government and consumer concern that the chemical may harm people. DuPont has said PFOA has mostly been removed from products introduced since 2007, while 3M said it completed the phase-out of last year. 3M said it filed the complaint after DuPont rejected offers to license the patent, which was issued in April 2008 and covers a way to make aqueous Teflon coatings that are effectively free of PFOA. The agreement to eliminate PFOA was made after an Environmental Protection Agency scientific advisory panel said PFOA is a likely human carcinogen, based on animal studies.
 
January 2006 -

Bottled water in Ohio test positive for DuPont chemical

The Associated Press reports that bottled water provided to about 1,000 southeast Ohio residents whose tap water contained a chemical used by DuPont Company to make Teflon has tested positive for trace amounts of the same substance, the company providing the water said last Thursday. Marietta-based Crystal Spring Water, which has been supplying the water to residents since September, confirmed the presence of perfluorooctanoic acid and its salts in tests after a learning of a similar finding by the local water association, it said. The company's tests on the bottled water showed C8 levels at 13 to 17 parts per trillion. The well supply that provides the residents' tap water contained 3,500 parts per trillion to 7,200 parts per trillion. The company is one of three hired by DuPont, the third-largest chemical company in the U.S., to provide water to local residents until it installs filters to remove the chemical at well-water treatment plants near its Parkersburg, West Virginia facility as part of the settlement of a 2001 class action lawsuit against it. Crystal Spring is giving the 1,000 people treated water and is installing a filter to remove the chemical, known as PFOA or C-8, from the spring it uses across the Ohio River in West Virginia, owner Gary Matheny said. It is also sending 2,000 letters to customers to tell them about plans to install the filter. The chemical, used in DuPont products from nonstick cookware coating to computer chips, is a "likely" carcinogenic, according to a draft report by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency science panel. Ohio and West Virginia residents who sued DuPont in 2001 claimed the company intentionally withheld and misrepresented information about the human health threat posed by the chemical. DuPont, which says C8 poses no human health threat, agreed to pay more than $107 million to settle the lawsuit with the residents over the chemical from the West Virginia plant. 

December 2005 -

EPA, DuPont in settlement over chemical


According to the Associated Press, federal regulators have reached an agreement with DuPont to settle allegations the company hid information about the dangers of a toxic chemical known as C8 used in the manufacture of Teflon. Lawyers for DuPont and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency told an administrative law judge that they had reached a final agreement, but needed more time to put together the paperwork. The EPA alleged that DuPont for 20 years covered up important information about C8's health effects and about the pollution of water supplies near the company's Washington Works plant. Under federal law, DuPont could face civil fines of more than $300 million for not reporting information that showed C8 posed "substantial risk of injury to health or the environment." The company has set aside $15 million to cover the costs of the lawsuit, according to corporate disclosures filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. DuPont also faces a federal criminal investigation of its actions concerning C8 pollution, the company has told shareholders. Since May, DuPont and the EPA repeatedly have said they were close to a settlement in the civil case, but had one item left to resolve. They would not identify that item. DuPont has maintained that C8, also known as perfluorooctanoic acid or PFOA, has no negative health effects. In February, DuPont settled a class-action lawsuit for $107.6 million brought by Ohio and West Virginia residents in 2001, alleging the Wilmington, Del.-based company intentionally withheld and misrepresented information concerning the nature and extent of the human health threat posed by C8.


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