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C8 or C-8: PFOA is perfluorooctanoic acid and is sometimes called C8. It is a man-made chemical and does not occur naturally in the environment. The "PFOA" acronym is used to indicate not only perfluorooctanoic acid itself, but also its principal salts.
The PFOA derivative of greatest concern and most wide spread use is the ammonium salt (
Ammonium perfluorooctanoate) commonly known as C8, C-8, or APFO and the chemical of concern in the Class Action suit in Ohio.

Ammonium perfluorooctanoate (APFO or C8)
CAS No. 3825-26-1. Molecular formula:

Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA or C8)
CAS No: 335-67-1
. Molecular formula:

The DuPont site where APFO is used as a reaction aid is the Washington Works (Route 892, Washington, West Virginia 26181) located along the Ohio River approximately seven miles southwest of Parkersburg, West Virginia.

The Little Hocking Water Association well field is located in Ohio on the north side of the Ohio River immediately across from the Washington Works facility. Consumers of this drinking water have brought a Class Action suit against the Association and DuPont for the contamination of their drinking water with DuPont's APFO, which residents and media refer to as C8.

PFOA is used as a processing aid in the manufacture of fluoropolymers to produce hundreds of items such as non-stick surfaces on cookware (TEFLON), protective finishes on carpets (SCOTCHGUARD, STAINMASTER), clothing (GORE-TEX), and the weather-resistant barrier sheeting used on homes under the exterior siding (TYVEK).

 

June 1, 2003

The Columbus Dispatch
(Ohio)

JUDGE WON'T QUIT DUPONT LAWSUIT

Associated Press

A judge in Parkersburg, W.Va., refused to step down from a class-action lawsuit filed by Ohio and West Virginia residents who claim that a DuPont plant contaminated water supplies.

Wood County Circuit Judge George W. Hill lives in the area where the chemical was detected and could be a potential benefactor, DuPont said.

A court order designated the class as "all persons whose drinking water is or has been contaminated with C8 attributable to releases from DuPont's Washington Works Plant.''

Last week, Hill said residents of Parkersburg, where he lives, do not qualify for the class because testing of the city's water supplies revealed nonquantifiable traces of ammonium perfluorooctanoate, or C8.

The lawsuit was filed in August 2001 on behalf of as many as 50,000 people who live near the plant along the Ohio River. The trial is set to begin Sept. 15.

Also last week, Hill granted the plaintiffs' request that DuPont turn over medical records of employees whose blood was tested for C8.

DuPont scientists have said there are no known health effects of C8, which the company has used for more than 50 years at the plant.