C8. April 30, 2004. DuPont to study workers' health; goal is to determine impact of C8. By Tom Hrach. The Marietta Times (Ohio).

FLUORIDE ACTION NETWORK PESTICIDE PROJECT

Return to Newspaper articles and Documents related to this Class Action

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).

Online at: http://www.mariettatimes.com/news/story/0430202004_new02dupontt.asp

April 30, 2004

The Marietta Times (Ohio)

DuPont to study workers' health; goal is to determine impact of C8

By Tom Hrach, thrach@mariettatimes.com

DuPont will undertake an employee health survey that it calls the most comprehensive examination ever conducted to determine if the chemical C8 has an adverse health effect on its workers.

The $1 million survey is seeking to recruit at least 750 volunteer employees at the company's Washington Works plant near Parkersburg to agree to undergo a health examination. The goal is to compare the results of employees who work in the company's Teflon unit, the area where the chemical with the trade name of C8 is used, and those who work elsewhere in the plant.

The Thursday announcement about the survey is significant because the company has been criticized for the use of the chemical.

Ammonium perfluorooctanoate, known as C8 or PFOA, is the subject of a class-action lawsuit filed in 2001 against DuPont by customers of the Lubeck Public Service District in Wood County, W.Va., that charges their drinking water has been contaminated by the chemical. The chemical has also been found in drinking water sources in Washington County.

The company stands by its original statements that there have been no human health effects from the chemical, said plant manager Paul Bossert.

Bossert made an announcement about the study at the plant along with representatives of DuPont's Haskell Laboratory for Health and Environmental Sciences, who will oversee the study.

"We are adding to the database that we already have. We do not anticipate seeing any health effects. But scientists go into this without any preconceived notions. We will follow the data where it leads," said Robin Leonard, principal research epidemiologist with the Haskell Laboratory.

The goal is to have significant numbers of employees who work in the unit and those who do not to participate. In total, the plant has close to 2,000 employees, and the more employees who agree to participate the more confident the scientists will be about the survey.

No employee will be forced to participate, and anyone who participates will have his or her personal health results sent to them. All information about the individual health of employees will be confidential.

Employees will undergo a general health exam including a physical exam, blood work, pulmonary function tests, EKG and urinalysis. The goal is to determine if there is any relationship between general health status of employees and the blood levels for C8.

The results are expected to be available by September, which means they would be ready for a risk assessment study scheduled by the U.S. EPA. Bossert said the employee survey results will be made available to the EPA prior to the start of that risk assessment.

At least one group is questioning the timing of the survey. The Environmental Working Group, a Washington, D.C.-based environmental watchdog organization, is critical of the survey saying it seems timed just to coincide with the U.S. EPA risk assessment.

"You might wonder where was this study for the last 20 years. Why not earlier? It seems at the last minute," said Richard Wiles, senior vice president for the group.

The group has completed some of its own studies of the chemical, and the group has disputed some statements by DuPont about the health effects of the chemical. The EWG has also cirticized the company for first tracking the chemical in its employees in the 1980s but failing to make that information public at the time.

Bossert said the timing of this newest survey is not an issue, and he said the survey is being completed now because the chemical's health effects have become such a public issue.

Most recently the level of the chemical in the Little Hocking Water Association wells, which serve thousands of western Washington County residents, reached a new high, raising concerns for customers.

Wiles also questioned whether the study will be thorough enough to give much new information about the chemical's health effects.

"I would be amazed if the study is comprehensive enough to really answer the question: Is C8 safe?," Wiles said.
Bossert said the results of the survey will be made public so residents can make a determination on their own about its validity.

"This subject has been public in the past, so we said: Why Not?," Bossert said.