Teflon: Is Your Cookware Hurting You?by John Heilprin, Associated Press
The Environmental Protection Agency warns that people nationwide could face "a potential risk of developmental and other adverse effects" from exposure to low levels of a chemical used in making the nonstick substance Teflon.
EPA issued a draft assessment of the potential risks of perfluorooctanoic acid and its salts, known as PFOA, or C-8. The report, based on animal studies, says some evidence exists that PFOA is carcinogenic in rats, but the cancer hazard for people is less certain.
It suggests the chemical targets the liver and is present in the breast milk of rats. It also says the chemical could raise cholesterol and triglyceride levels in people - a finding that chemical maker DuPont Co. publicly released last week. DuPont said its study found no overall health problems.
While PFOA is used to make Teflon, it is not present in Teflon itself, which is applied to cookware, clothing, car parts and flooring. PFOA also is used to produce materials used in firefighting foam, phone cables and computer chips.
EPA officials emphasized that its assessment was preliminary, saying that while the agency "has concerns with respect to the potential nationwide presence of PFOA in blood and with the potential for developmental and other effects suggested by animal studies, there are significant uncertainties in the agency's quantitative assessment of the risks of PFOA."
The Environmental Working Group, an advocacy organization that brought DuPont's record on PFOA to EPA's attention, said that based on other studies of PFOA, it believes the potential cancer and heart disease risks from the chemical are being played down too much.
"There is a more serious risk, we believe, than what EPA is discussing," the group's spokeswoman, Lauren Sucher, said.
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