DuPont's troubled chemical C-8/Teflon, it's even in the flesh of dolphins

[Guest guest]

DuPont's troubled chemical

C-8 is widespread in the environment. How did it get there, and should we be

worried?

By FRED BIDDLE and JENNIFER GOLDBLATT

Staff reporters

11/23/2003

http://www.delawareonline.com/newsjournal/local/2003/11/23dupontstroubled.ht

ml

 

A little-known manmade chemical is found in the tissue of living things

around the globe.

 

It is in the flesh of dolphins and cormorants off the Italian coast.

 

It is in 5 percent of the bread, green beans and ground beef sampled in

supermarkets in southern states.

 

It is in the blood of up to 96 percent of people in the United States, a

study suggests.

 

The chemical is known as C-8.

 

C-8 is used to make the DuPont Co.'s Teflon that coats cookware. It is also

released in the decomposition of fluorinated telomers, a chemical used to

make some fast-food wrappers resistant to grease. Teflon and telomers are

part of a family of fluorinated compounds pioneered and dominated by DuPont.

 

Scientists know of no other sources of C-8.

 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency wants to know how C-8 enters the

environment and whether it's harmful. Recent evidence that C-8 exists in the

blood of most people led the agency to question whether the public health

was adequately protected.

 

Much remains to be discovered about how C-8 gets into humans and whether it

is harmful.

 

The News Journal interviewed dozens of experts and reviewed more than 100

scientific papers to understand what is known about the source and the

health effects of C-8, also known as PFOA, the initials of its chemical

name, Perfluorooctanoic Acid.

 

DuPont has said it does not know why the chemical has become so pervasive,

acknowledging C-8 has been found in the blood of the general population at a

level five times the maximum the company strives to achieve in the air and

water around its factories where C-8 is made or used. DuPont said, however,

the C-8 levels pose no threat.

 

" In more than 50 years of use by DuPont and others, there have been no known

adverse human health effects associated with PFOA, " Dr. Uma Chowdhry,

DuPont's global vice president for central research and development,

testified to the EPA in June.

 

The chemical causes cancer and birth defects in lab rats. But DuPont and

others that have made or used C-8 say it is harmless to people. That

assurance is based on decades of C-8 use with no evidence of ill effects,

they said.

 

The EPA is conducting hearings that could lead to regulating or banning the

chemical. The agency could decide to leave the chemical unregulated.

 

The EPA hearings are being monitored by the Food and Drug Administration.

The FDA said it will use the findings to decide whether to reconsider its

decades-old approvals of Teflon on nonstick pans and telomers in food

packaging.

 

The Consumer Product Safety Commission also is attending the EPA hearings to

determine whether it should require warning labels or some other regulation

for Teflon-coated cookware. And the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention recently has proposed adding C-8 to the list of chemicals for

which it routinely screens blood.

 

C-8 has been made in only three locations in the United States over the past

half century. Because C-8 must come from a manmade source, the EPA plans to

trace C-8 from the time it is manufactured until after the products with

coatings linked to the chemical are thrown away. Agency officials have

stressed that the inquiry is in its early stages.

 

" It's premature and inappropriate to advise people to avoid these products, "

said Charles Auer, director of the EPA's Office of Pollution Prevention and

Toxics.

 

Discovered by DuPont

 

The EPA's investigations focus on a family of chemicals that made DuPont a

household name. They played a key role in developing the atomic bomb and

modern refrigeration.

 

DuPont's foray into this fluoropolymer chemistry began in 1938, with Roy

Plunkett's accidental discovery of polytetrafluoroethylene, the chemical

DuPont now sells as Teflon. That chemical eventually spawned a $2 billion

industry in the United States, where manufacturers include Asahi Glass

Fluoropolymers USA, Daikin America Inc. and Dyneon LLC.

 

What makes these products so strong is fluorine, which forms tight chemical

bonds with carbon in long molecular chains. C-8 is added to the compounds to

ensure that the chains will align properly and that the finished coatings

will have a slippery, nonstick quality.

 

The difficulty of working with fluoropolymers and concerns about polymer

fume fever made DuPont wary about commercializing Teflon for more than a

decade after Plunkett's discovery. The company didn't apply for FDA approval

to use Teflon on cookware until 1959.

 

DuPont continued to advance the chemistry in the 1960s when it developed

fluorinated telomers, which provide Teflon-like protection against dirt and

grease for textiles, carpets and papers. Fluorinated telomers are also based

on a chain of fluorine and carbon bonds.

 

Telomers have shorter molecular chains than Teflon, and that makes them more

applicable for objects like textiles, carpets and papers, where it is

important to retain the object's original appearance.

 

In 1967, the FDA approved Zonyl, DuPont's leading brand of fluorinated

telomers, for use in food packaging. It was a less costly and less

labor-intensive alternative to the waxed-based papers previously used, which

could not be recycled.

 

Telomers are even marketed under the Teflon brand in such applications as

the " Stain Defender " used on clothing. Fluorinated telomers also are used in

DuPont's own Stainmaster carpet brand and some fast-food packaging.

 

DuPont executives said that they don't know all the products coated with

fluorinated telomers because DuPont sells to intermediaries such as paper

companies, not end users such as fast-food companies. The intermediaries add

DuPont coatings to their food cartons, wrappers and other products.

 

Telomers pose mystery

 

EPA officials have said they think Teflon and fluorinated telomers could be

a source of C-8 in the environment.

 

DuPont disagrees. The company said it extracts all detectable C-8 from

Teflon during production and that its researchers have been unable to detect

the chemical in nonstick cookware.

 

DuPont said Teflon coatings cannot break down into C-8. The company also

said its studies have shown that hot foods in telomer-coated packaging could

not cause the release of C-8.

 

C-8 is not used to make fluorinated telomers. Recent scientific findings

show they break down into C-8, however. Scientists, including DuPont's, are

baffled about how that occurs.

 

" If you're asking me: Is that transformation possible? I guess the answer to

that question would be yes, it's possible, " said Robert Ritchie, a DuPont

director of planning and technology. Company scientists also said they don't

know what chemical reactions occur to telomer-coated products as they are

used and thrown away, one focus of the EPA's inquiry.

 

Ritchie said that any C-8 release would be " very, very small " because of the

small amount of fluorinated telomers used to coat any item. " If we had any

reason to believe that was a safety issue for fluorinated telomers-based

products, we wouldn't have commercialized them, " Ritchie said.

 

DuPont began studying whether telomers can emit C-8 in 1999.

 

" Telomers would not cause health effects under normal uses, " said R. Clifton

Webb, a spokesman for DuPont. " Under normal uses, telomers are added in such

small amounts to finished consumer products that it is not probable for a

consumer to ingest or absorb these materials in the body at a dose that

would cause a health concern. "

 

Cookware may be source

 

Although fluorinated telomers are a central focus for the EPA, the agency

also has questioned whether nonstick cookware, which account for about 65

percent of cookware sold in the United States, are giving off C-8 when they

are heated. Industry analysts said DuPont dominates the nonstick cookware

coating market, although DuPont won't disclose its share.

 

A study published in the British science journal Nature two years ago

concluded that C-8 was one of several toxic gases emitted by Teflon heated

to 680 Fahrenheit and 932 F. Normal cooking temperatures can reach 536

degrees.

 

DuPont called the Nature study misleading.

 

" Any material, if heated to a high enough temperature, will decompose, " the

company said in a news release following the release of the Nature study.

Even when Teflon decomposes, DuPont said its own research shows that Teflon

does not release C-8.

 

The University of Toronto researchers who conducted the Nature study

defended their work and said they expect to publish another study of Teflon.

Their recent research, which found several previously unknown fluorinated

compounds, underscores how little is understood about the decomposition of

Teflon, said Scott Mabury, one of the researchers and chairman of the

university's chemistry department.

 

Regulators also want to know whether there are other Teflon coated products

that could be a source of C-8 in the environment.

 

The EPA plans to test Teflon pans and other Teflon-coated products, such as

shatter-resistant light bulbs and sealants used in military machinery. The

EPA also has ordered tests to determine whether products coated with

fluorinated telomers release C-8. The agency said it wants to gauge the

potential for C-8 to be released at every stage of a product life cycle.

 

C-8 entered water supply

 

The inquiry the EPA is conducting began as a groundwater pollution issue in

the Ohio River Valley. One source of C-8 contamination that no one disputes

is the Teflon manufacturing process.

 

DuPont has made Teflon at a plant near Parkersburg, W.Va., for more than 50

years. For most of that time, it has released C-8 into the adjacent Ohio

River, the air and local landfills.

 

In the late 1990s, the EPA joined Ohio and West Virginia environmental

regulators in an investigation of the resulting groundwater pollution around

the plant. The investigation found C-8 in the groundwater. As a result,

DuPont agreed to replace the drinking water of tens of thousands of area

residents should C-8 levels reach an agreed-upon level, which has not

happened.

 

DuPont has separately pledged to reduce direct C-8 pollution 50 percent from

1999 levels nationwide by 2006. The voluntary pledge has now been

incorporated into a consent decree between DuPont and the EPA.

 

DuPont's unregulated emissions into the air and water from its Parkersburg

plant totaled about 20,000 pounds last year. In 1999, the most recent year

for which it provided records, the company also released nearly 10,000

pounds of C-8 waste into the Delaware River. The waste was sent from

Parkersburg for treatment at the company's Chambers Works plant in

Deepwater, N.J.

 

The EPA's concern over the groundwater contamination grew largely because of

animal and human studies conducted since the 1970s. Those studies found that

C-8 causes cancerous tumors in the pancreas, liver, mammary glands and

testicles of lab rats, as well as developmental problems.

 

DuPont said that although C-8 can cause tumors in rats, those results do not

mean it causes cancer in people.

 

3M stops producing C-8

 

Much of the research on how pervasive C-8 is in the environment and how it

got there was conducted by the 3M Co., which formerly supplied DuPont with

C-8.

 

After decades of research, 3M announced in 2000 that it would stop selling

C-8, although the company continued to produce a small amount for its own

use. 3M cited environmental concerns in its decision, including the fact

that the chemical is found in the blood of so many people. The company said,

however, it doesn't believe C-8 poses a risk to humans.

 

Since the mid-1970s, studies of blood donors and children participating in

clinical trials, conducted mostly by 3M, have found C-8 in the vast majority

of blood samples of people across the country. The most recent 3M study

showed C-8 in the blood of 96 percent of 528 children tested from 23 states

and Washington, D.C.

 

3M has turned over the results of its studies to the EPA. The EPA said it

expanded its examination of C-8 in part because of 3M's blood studies.

 

EPA officials said 3M's decision to stop making C-8 for sale heightened the

agency's interest in the chemical.

 

" We were surprised but pleased the day 3M walked into a meeting with senior

EPA officials and said, 'We've decided to stop making perfluorooctyl

chemicals, including PFOS and PFOA, not only here in the U.S. but also

worldwide,' " the EPA's Auer said. " How often do you see a company respond in

such a forthright manner, especially given the economic and brand name

importance of this line of chemistry to 3M? "

 

As early as 1981, a 3M study published in the journal Analytical

Biochemistry found that lab rats fed fluorinated telomers metabolized them

into C-8. A 3M test completed a year ago, after 3M had withdrawn from the

business, showed that microorganisms in wastewater sludge broke down

fluorinated telomers into C-8.

 

Following those studies, 3M withdrew entirely from selling the C-8 that

feeds the nonstick market. DuPont, which was not a manufacturer of C-8,

needed a supplier for the chemical necessary to make Teflon. It began making

C-8 in October 2002 at a plant in Fayetteville, N.C.

 

C-8's effect on humans

 

In addition to the finding that C-8 is widespread, scientific studies have

also found that C-8 doesn't break down in the environment and diminishes

slowly in the body.

 

A study 3M released last year of retirees who had worked near C-8 at one of

the company's plants concluded that it takes 4.4 years for the human body to

flush out one-half of the chemical it is exposed to at any given moment.

 

DuPont acknowledges that C-8 is persistent in the environment, but says that

should not be a human health concern.

 

" Presence of a substance alone does not support the conclusion that the

substance caused or likely caused an adverse human health effect, " DuPont

wrote in a June letter to the EPA.

 

At the urging of the EPA earlier this year, DuPont and the fluoropolymer

industry agreed to conduct additional research to address the agency's

questions. DuPont has joined with the other makers of fluorinated telomers

to learn more about the chemicals.

 

The EPA is also gathering information on the temperatures reached in trash

incinerators because of the potential for C-8 air pollution from burned

Teflon and fluorinated telomer-coated products.

 

FDA officials have said they will consider the EPA's findings before

deciding whether to reconsider the agency's 40-year-old approval of Teflon

for use in nonstick cookware.

 

" If any information is forthcoming which indicates that a food-related

product is unsafe, the agency will take the appropriate action, " said Dr.

Mitchell Cheeseman, director of the division of food contact notifications.

 

DuPont promotes Teflon

 

DuPont said it is confident Teflon and fluorinated telomers will survive the

scrutiny.

 

Teflon and related products are part of businesses that collectively make up

less than 5 percent of DuPont's annual sales, which totaled $24.1 billion

last year. DuPont will not release sales or profit margins for its

fluoropolymer business.

 

But Teflon is an important product to DuPont. The company has chosen

fluoropolymer compounds as the focus for the biggest image makeover in

years. Teflon fabric protector, nonstick coatings and Stainmaster carpet

brands lead a television and print ad campaign aimed at working mothers that

DuPont unveiled in July.

 

DuPont officials said they are confident that C-8 is safe.

 

" We stand by our position that exposure to low levels of PFOA does not pose

a risk to human health or the environment, " DuPont spokesman Webb said. " In

fact, there are no known health or environmental effects associated with

PFOA. As we have said many times, there are more than 100 scientific

studies, conducted over more than 20 years, that support this position, as

does worker surveillance data from both DuPont and 3M employees. "

 

Reach Fred Biddle at 324-2878 or fbiddle. Reach Jennifer

Goldblatt at 324-2877 or jgoldblatt.

 

 

Special to The News Journal/DALE W. FERRELL

A worker at the DuPont plant near Parkersburg, W.Va., packs granular Teflon

for shipment. DuPont has made Teflon at the plant for more than 50 years. An

investigation by environmental officials found C-8 in the groundwater near

the plant.

 

T E F L O N - C 8

 

MULTIMEDIA

 

Find where Teflon may be found in your home in an interactive graphic

 

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plugin, download it here!

 

 

GRAPHICS

• The path of C-8

• How Teflon breaks down

• C-8 locations in the U.S.

• How C-8 is used in making Teflon

• The effect of heat on Teflon

 

 

VIDEO

 

Early Teflon commercial

:28

 

Teflon commercial

in Mandarin Chinese

:38

 

 

Requires RealPlayer. If you don't have the FREE RealPlayer, download it

here!

 

 

ARTICLES

• DuPont's troubled chemical

• Is there a danger in the air for cooks?

 

 

PREVIOUS ARTICLES

• Brief history of Teflon

• DuPont: 200 years of history

• Previous coverage of DuPont

 

 

MORE ON THE WEB

• DuPont's site on Teflon

• Information on EPA investigation of C-8

• The Environmental Working Group (EWG), a not-for-profit environmental

research organization, reacts to DuPont's response to the EPA's inquiry

about C-8

 

 

 

 

 

 

WHAT IS C-8?

C-8 is a surfactant, or detergent-like material, used by DuPont and other

companies in the manufacture of fluoropolymer resins and finishes, like

Teflon.

The chemical has recently appeared in blood of up to 96 percent of people in

tests.

 

C-8 has been shown to cause cancer and birth defects in animals.

 

DuPont says that it hasn't observed adverse health effects in humans in the

52 years it has used the chemical.

 

WHAT THE EPA SAYS

 

Because studies show that C-8 causes cancer and developmental problems in

rats and is in the blood of most people, the EPA is looking into how C-8

enters the environment and whether it's harmful to humans.

 

WHAT THE FDA SAYS

 

The FDA is monitoring EPA's meetings dealing with C-8. If information

indicates that a food-related product is unsafe, the agency will act. The

FDA is also reviewing regulated products that may contribute to C-8

exposure. The agency said it has no information any of these products are

unsafe.

 

WHAT DUPONT SAYS

 

" We stand by our position that exposure to low levels of [C-8] does not pose

a risk to human health or the environment. In fact, there are no known

health or environmental effects associated with [C-8]. "

 

WHAT IS C-8?

C-8 is a surfactant, or detergent-like material, used by DuPont and other

companies in the manufacture of fluoropolymer resins and finishes, like

Teflon.

The chemical has recently appeared in blood of up to 96 percent of people in

tests.

 

C-8 has been shown to cause cancer and birth defects in animals.

 

DuPont says that it hasn't observed adverse health effects in humans in the

52 years it has used the chemical.

 

WHAT THE EPA SAYS

 

Because studies show that C-8 causes cancer and developmental problems in

rats and is in the blood of most people, the EPA is looking into how C-8

enters the environment and whether it's harmful to humans.

 

WHAT THE FDA SAYS

 

The FDA is monitoring EPA's meetings dealing with C-8. If information

indicates that a food-related product is unsafe, the agency will act. The

FDA is also reviewing regulated products that may contribute to C-8

exposure. The agency said it has no information any of these products are

unsafe.

 

WHAT DUPONT SAYS

 

" We stand by our position that exposure to low levels of [C-8] does not pose

a risk to human health or the environment. In fact, there are no known

health or environmental effects associated with [C-8]. "