Sticks To Your DNA, Not To Your Pan

[rpm]

Linky

A chemical used to make Teflon, Gore-Tex and stain-resistant coatings is more likely to cause cancer than the government has previously acknowledged, according to a scientific panel.
PFOA, or perfluorooctanoic acid, is a "likely carcinogen" according to an advisory board to the Environmental Protection Agency. The science panel's pronouncement is the first step in a process that could result in the agency regulating or even banning some uses of the popular manufacturing agent.

Health and environmental experts have raised red flags about PFOA because of its pervasiveness. Tests by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have found PFOA in the blood of 95% of Americans, though researchers don't yet know how it's getting there.

PFOA is used in the manufacture of Teflon coatings on pans. It is also found in widely used coatings that make upholstery and clothing stain-resistant and in a grease-resistant coating on microwave popcorn and fast-food packaging among others.

Delaware-based DuPont is already potentially liable for millions of dollars in fines to the EPA for failing to report significant information about the health risks posed by PFOA at its plant in Parkersburg, W.Va. The corporation was cited for failing to pass along the results of health tests it had done on workers at the plant.

That Washington Works plant on the Ohio River uses PFOA to manufacture fluoropolymers, temperature-resistant plastics that include some Teflon products. Last year, the company settled a class-action lawsuit brought by 60,000 residents of West Virginia and Ohio for as much as $343 million. The lawsuit accused the corporation of contaminating drinking water with PFOA from the Parkersburg plant.

Richard Wiles of the Environmental Working Group, an environmental research organization that has taken on PFOA, says DuPont is just fighting to protect one of its revenue sources.

"What DuPont is worried about is that this whole line of chemistry is on the block. PFOS, a similar compound, was taken off the market in 1999 and PFOA is next. They're way invested in this chemistry."

Finding different ways to create these sturdy coatings has become a mission for "green" chemists. These scientists have been searching for ways to manufacture products that fuel the U.S. economy and lifestyle without the environmental damage that has surfaced in recent years.

Researchers at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill have found a way to develop non-stick coatings using carbon dioxide, which does not produce PFOA. But DuPont spokesman Clifton Webb said the process doesn't produce a product that is high-enough quality for many uses.

Scary stuff when you think about it. How many of us have eaten food prepared in nonstick pans?

[JB73]

in the last week i have heard of 3 people with colon cancer.

none in my direct knowledge / family that has used only stainless steel / cast iron.


makes you wonder.

[Masherbrum]

Originally posted by JB73
in the last week i have heard of 3 people with colon cancer.

none in my direct knowledge / family that has used only stainless steel / cast iron.


makes you wonder.

Colon Cancer runs in my family from the 1800's.  They didn't have "non-stick pans" back then.

It comes down to Diet.  

Karaya

[rpm]

Some families are just geneticly cursed. I know a guy whose Mom, Dad, brother and sister died of cancer. His other sister is fighting breast cancer and he just had a cancerous growth removed from his throat. None of them ever smoked.

Some people get cancer from out of the blue. No family history, no major risk factors. This could turn into a very big deal if it's positively linked to cancer thru consumer exposure.

[DREDIOCK]

Originally posted by JB73
in the last week i have heard of 3 people with colon cancer.

none in my direct knowledge / family that has used only stainless steel / cast iron.


makes you wonder.

Actually my oncologist said that most men develop colon cancer in their later years but it usually moves so slowly that men usually die from old age or other natural causes long before it reaches a state where its a problem

[GRUNHERZ]

When I had a pet parrot I read a lot about care and health of pet birds and often saw warnings against using non stick pans in your house - apparently the fumes they let off could kill the birds.

Hmmm..

[Holden McGroin]

While PFOA is used to make Teflon (PTFE), it is not present in Teflon itself, which is applied to cookware, clothing, car parts and flooring.

[Siaf__csf]

Tests by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have found PFOA in the blood of 95% of Americans

[StarOfAfrica2]

Yanno whats scarier than that?  

With all the advances in modern science and medicine, the best test we can come up with for Colon problems Doc's finger stuck up yer butt.

[Holden McGroin]

There have been no adverse health effects for employees caused by exposure to PFOA in the workplace. This conclusion is supported by clinical and mortality studies of chemical production employees at facilities where PFOA was manufactured. Levels found among the general public or in the environment are even lower than workplace levels.
 
Although adverse effects have been observed in laboratory studies of animals exposed to high levels of PFOA, these studies and exposure levels were designed to produce effects in order to better understand the toxicology of PFOA. The fluoropolymer industry and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are continuing to explore the potential relevance of the findings.

Decades of employee health monitoring, including many studies published in the open scientific literature, reveal no adverse health effects in chemical production workers caused by exposure to PFOA when workplace exposure guidelines are followed.

... new technology has reduced emissions from PFOA manufacturing in the United States by 99 percent, and the principal fluoropolymer producers have each committed to a minimum 50-percent reduction in total global emissions by 2006 (using 2000 as the baseline year).

[Siaf__csf]

Also asbestos was researched and deemed totally safe by the US industries for decades.

Monney makes the world go round.. the world go round.. etc.

[Holden McGroin]

So anything against money grubbing evil corporations is therefore pristine and factual?

Or are we going to calmly look at the entire data set and make an informed opinion?

Seems to me that maybe only one or two on this BBS ever heard of PFOA before a few hours ago.

[Siaf__csf]

Same applied to asbestos. It was used everywhere, very few knew it was there (such as regular building cement.)

Of course it might be a false alarm but history shows that corporations have altered and dumped research data that could have saved millions of lives.

Tobacco industry and asbestos industry to name the obvious.

It might be that the american liability suite system is starting to work against itself. When big corps mass produce a leathal product and find it out, they do everything in thier power to stop it from coming into public knowledge and maximise the profits before the ***** hits the fan. Move assets to cayman islands, change CEO at a strategic moment and all is good.

[Innominate]

Originally posted by Siaf__csf
Same applied to asbestos. It was used everywhere, very few knew it was there (such as regular building cement.)

Asbestos is only dangerous when in particulate form in the air, and for long durations of exposure.  (i.e. the poor bastards who applied the stuff)  The same is true of coal dust, quartz, and common flour.  Working in a building that is insulated by asbestos is normally safe.

As for the teflon pans,
"PFOA is used in the manufacture of Teflon coatings on pans."  This is not saying  "PFOA IS IN YOUR TEFLON PANS! OMG YOU"RE GUNNA DIE OF CANCER!"  This is saying that the people involved in the factories making this stuff, and those in the nearby potentially contaminated areas are at risk.  Not Joe-nonstick cookware-Schmoe.

A lot of VERY hazardous chemicals are used in the production of almost everything you have in your home.

[Siaf__csf]

That's where you're wrong Innominate. Asbestos is hazardous in extremely small quantities and everyone is at danger as long as there is asbestos around. It is said that it takes only one asbestos fiber in lungs to eventually develop into cancer. Longer exposures only shorten the developing.

Asbestos insulations are not dangerous as long as nobody touches them - but during maintenance or renovation dust particles fly around and _will_ contaminate most of the building unless safety measures are taken. That means isolating the whole renovated area with underpressurization and workers must use special suits and breathing air filtering.

Anyone of us could be exposed to asbestos even by a simple task of drilling a hole in an old cement wall. During 70's asbestos was commonly used in cements (kitchen walls, fireplaces) anyplace that was exposed to heat. Heck they made cooking plates from the stuff.