Teflon - DuPont data indicates it hid risks of chemical to public

May 26, 2008

Original sender's name: Hanneke Original sender's address: blosshan This dates back November 2005: DuPont data indicates it hid risks of chemical - Activists release internal documents, former engineer concurs (ACTION ALERT, SCIENCE, NEWS) DuPont data indicates it hid risks of chemical - Activists releaseinternal documents, former engineer concursNov. 17, 2005 WASHINGTON - DuPont Co. hid studies showing the risks of aTeflon-related chemical used to line candy wrappers, pizza boxes,microwave popcorn bags and hundreds of other food containers, accordingto internal company documents and a former employee. The chemical Zonyl can rub off the liner and get into food. Once in aperson’s body, it can break down into perfluorooctanoic acid and itssalts, known as PFOA, a related chemical used in the making ofTeflon-coated cookware. The Environmental Protection Agency has been trying to decide whether toclassify PFOA as a “likely” human carcinogen. The Food and DrugAdministration, in a letter released Wednesday evening by DuPont, saidit was continuing to monitor the safety of PFOA chemicals in food. The DuPont documents were made public Wednesday by the EnvironmentalWorking Group, a research and advocacy organization. Engineer: ‘In every one of you’ At the same time, a former DuPont chemical engineer, Glenn Evers, toldreporters at a news conference at EWG’s office that the company longsuppressed its studies on the chemical. “They are toxic,” Evers said of the PFOA chemicals. “They get into humanblood. And they are also in every one of you. Your loved ones, yourfellow citizens.” From 1981 to 2002, Evers helped DuPont develop new products. He losthis job in 2002 in what DuPont described as a company restructuring. Evers had a different view: “It is my belief DuPont pushed me out of thecompany” because he started raising concerns about the chemicals’ safety. Evers said he decided to talk publicly about the PFOA problem afterfiling a civil suit against DuPont this month in a Delaware court.Evers’ aim is mainly to “set the record straight” about the chemical andhis own career, said Herb Feuerhake, Evers’ lawyer. But Evers said he also hoped to influence the outcome of an EPA hearinglater this month on whether DuPont had withheld from EPA the study onPFOA and possible birth defects. The company could be fined millions ofdollars. After EWG tracked down Evers who had provided expert, unpaid testimonyin two lawsuits against DuPont the 47-year-old Delaware resident saidhe talked it over with his priest, who told him, “‘You can’t dance withthe devil.”’ Company’s response DuPont denied allegations that PFOA posed a health risk, saying the Foodand Drug Administration had approved the products for consumers. “These products are safe for consumer use,” the company said in astatement. “FDA has approved these materials for consumer use since thelate 1960s, and DuPont has always complied with all FDA regulations andstandards regarding these products.” The company said Evers “had little if any direct involvement in PFOAissues while employed at DuPont. ... Evers expressed a wide range ofpersonal opinions that are inaccurate, counter to FDA’s findings, andwhich DuPont strongly disputes.” The environmental group on Wednesday gave the FDA and the EPA copies ofDuPont-sponsored internal studies indicating higher dangers from Zonylthan the government knew, including its ability to migrate into the food. One of the documents, a 1987 memo, cites laboratory tests showing thechemical came off paper coating and leached into foods at levels threetimes higher than the FDA limit set in 1967. Another document, a 1973Dupont study in which rats and dogs were fed Zonyl for 90 days, saidboth types of animals had anemia and damage to their kidneys and livers;the dogs had higher cholesterol levels. Activists: Fetuses at risk “What makes this worse is that DuPont knew at that time that Zonylbreakdown-products, such as PFOA, in food were very persistent in theenvironment and were contaminating human blood, including the fetal cordblood of babies born to DuPont female employees,” EWG Senior VicePresident Richard Wiles wrote to FDA and EPA officials. Wiles asked the agencies to determine whether DuPont should be penalizedfor withholding the studies. Last year, based on another DuPont documentthat the environmental group obtained, EPA alleged the company hadrepeatedly failed over a 20-year period to submit required data aboutPFOA. The document referred to a study that suggested possible linksbetween PFOA and birth defects in infants. EPA spokeswoman Eryn Witcher said Wednesday the agency “has an extensiveeffort under way to determine the sources of PFOA, how the public isbeing exposed, and whether these exposures pose a potential health risk.” Earlier dioxin case Evers’ decision to go public with his concerns may have already had animpact. In August, he told a Mississippi court that all three of DuPont’s U.S.plants were releasing “massive amounts” of dioxin a class of organicchemicals that EPA studies have shown pose a possible cancer risk inhumans. In that case, an oyster fisherman who claimed dioxin from aDuPont plant caused his rare blood cancer was awarded $14 million inactual damages and his wife received $1.5 million. He also testified last year in a West Virginia case in which DuPontagreed to a $107.6 million settlement of a class-action suit. Residentsaround a plant near Parkersburg, W.Va., had said that PFOA contaminatedtheir drinking water supplies. DuPont also remains the target of anotherclass-action suit over PFOA seeking $5 billion. The Zonyl documents are online at ewg.org/issues/pfcs/20051116/documents.php http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10082924/ --- «¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤» § - PULSE ON 21st CENTURY ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE! § Subscribe:......... - «¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»

June 5, 2008

Close to 20 years ago, a neighbor of mine had his whole face reconstructed due to a severe accident. The accident had crushed his jaw, along with all the other bone structure in his face.

Dupont had designed teflon coated jaw hinges for accident victims like my neighbor, and a set of those was used during his facial reconstruction process.

Maybe a year or two after his surgery, Dupont discovered there was a problem with their hinge design. It was found that those hinges flaked off little fragments of the teflon, and those flakes would work their way up into the person's brain, causing serious brain disorders...or worse! But instead of saying anything, they kept quiet, letting these unsuspecting people suffer!

Eventually there was a recall of these hinges, but my neighbor still wasn't notified about it for about 2 more years. That's how "hush-hush" Dupont had managed to keep it.

Meanwhile, all during this time, my neighbor had been consistently complaining about severe headaches during this entire time. But when he would tell his surgeon/doctor, he was pretty much shined on.

Finally it came out in the open about the adverse affect, and the need to remove the hinges. He got another surgeon, and x-rays showed the flecks of teflon working their way toward his temples.

I know the guy filed a law suit against Dupont (and his original surgeon for not telling him about it in a timely manner), but don't know what the outcome wound up being. I moved and lost track of the guy.

Anyway, it's well established that these mega corporations (including the pharmacutical industry) would much rather withhold the truth about these things, go ahead and market them anyway, make huge profits on unsuspecting citizens, and then quickly pay off settlements when sued. Even paying off huge class action suits hardly puts a dent in the profits they gleened from selling this horrible stuff in the first place!

AND...to make it worse, the government is making it more and more difficult to sue these corporations to begin with! They get all the rights and we get the brunt of their profit making jokes on the citizens of this country!

Also, statistics show that we tend to have a very short attention span. A major lawsuit on something like this could hit the front page of every major newspaper in the country, be all over the news on TV and on the net, and within a month, most of us will have forgotten all about it. And that's exactly what these corporations are betting on.

Turtle