2005:
Newspaper
articles and reports
|
Dec
21, 2005 |
Papers
sealed in 3M lawsuit. But judge widens chemical inquiry.
The
500,000-plus documents that 3M Co. soon will hand over in
response to a lawsuit alleging groundwater contamination
in Washington County will be sealed, a judge ruled Monday...
Hannon's order lays out a time line for the case, including
a hearing on class-action status in November 2006. Attorneys
say a trial usually doesn't launch until months after such
a hearing... The attorneys representing residents of Cottage
Grove and nearby areas in the 3M case will be able to ask
the court to unseal documents that they think don't include
trade secrets.
|
By John
Welbes.
Pioneer Press (Minnesota). |
Dec
19, 2005 |
DuPont,
EPA Settle. Company to pay $16.5 million to settle PFOA
allegations.
...Granta
Y. Nakayama, EPA assistant administrator for enforcement,
says the most serious allegation involved
failure to report for more than 20 years that PFOA was found
in the umbilical cord blood of a baby of a woman working
at DuPont's plant outside of Parkersburg, W.Va. That
facility uses PFOA to manufacture DuPont's Teflon brand
of polytetrafluoroethylene... The company will pay a $10.25
million fine and spend $6.25 million for two additional
projects. One is $5 million in research
evaluating the potential for nine DuPont fluorotelomers
to break down into PFOA. The remaining $1.25 million
will fund microscale chemistry and green chemistry programs
in schools near the West Virginia plant.
|
By Cheryl
Hogue.
Chemical & Engineering News. |
Dec
18, 2005 |
DuPont
won't say how C-8 is formed. Residents fear contamination.
... government and company officials are refusing all requests
for names of the chemicals and products targeted in a $5
million study included in a record-breaking $16.5 million
settlement announced by the EPA last week.
|
By Jeff
Montgomery.
The News Journal (Delaware). |
Dec
15, 2005 |
DuPont
fined $16.5 million by the EPA. Settlement in W.Va. Teflon
plant case is noncourt record for agency.
|
By Jeff
Montgomery. The News Journal (Delaware). |
Dec
14, 2005 |
DuPont
fined $16.5 million by the EPA. EPA Settles PFOA Case Against
DuPont for Largest Environmental Administrative Penalty
in Agency History.
The
settlement package requires DuPont to pay $10.25 million
in civil penalties and perform Supplemental Environmental
Projects worth $6.25 million.
DuPont PFOA Settlement Supplemental Environmental Projects
(SEPs)
Fluorotelomer-based Product Biodegradation Testing SEP
The Biodegradation SEP will investigate the biodegradation
potential of certain chemicals to breakdown to form PFOA.
The SEP, valued at $5 million and to be completed in 3 years,
will evaluate nine of DuPont’s commercial fluorotelomer-based
products in commerce prior to the settlement. Using two
types of biodegradation studies, the SEP will help the public
to better understand the inherent degradation potential
of fluorotelomer-based products to form PFOA and the behavior
of such products when released to the environment. DuPont
will use independent laboratories to perform all work associated
with the Biodegradation SEP and will hire an independent
third party to serve as a Panel Administrator for a Peer
Consultation Panel. The Peer Consultation Panel will address
specific charges related to the biodegradation studies.
The public will have the opportunity to nominate Peer Consultation
Panel members. DuPont has agreed to require the laboratories
it contracts with to follow the Agency’s Good Laboratory
Practices regulations as well as prepare and follow a Quality
Assurance Project Plan.
Microscale Chemistry and Green Chemistry SEP
DuPont will spend $1.25 million to implement over an expected
3 year period the Microscale and Green Chemistry SEP, a
SEP that will foster curriculum change in 7 schools in Wood
County to reduce risk posed by chemicals using microscale
chemistry, which reduces exposure to chemicals, and green
chemistry, an approach that uses safer chemicals. The goals
of this SEP include reducing the adverse impact to public
health by minimizing the potential exposure to chemicals
in schools, avoiding subsequent disposal issues for these
materials, and enhancing science safety in all of the schools
involved in the SEP. This SEP will involve close coordination
with teachers and administrators in the participating schools.
•
See
The Consent Agreement
EAB Transmittal
Memo for DuPont PFOA Settlement
|
Press Release
US EPA |
Dec
9, 2005 |
Food
Wrapping Under Scrutiny.
...
The problem, Evers says, is the chemical coating called
Zonyl seeps off into the food and into your body —
turning into a possible cancer-causing substance called
PFOA... Evers says back in 1987, DuPont scientists discovered
Zonyl seeped off the paper at triple the rate advised by
FDA, but that was kept a company secret he says...
|
CBS-TV |
Dec
6, 2005 |
Top
engineer: DuPont hid dangers for years of chemical within
teflon, paper products.
...
At a Washington press conference in mid-November by the
Environmental Working Group, Glenn
Evers, a 22-year DuPont veteran and former chair of its
technical committee, described DuPont efforts to keep using
the chemical mixture, ammonium perfluorooctanic acid, also
known as PFOA or C8...
|
By Mark
Gruenberg. ILCA
Online
Washington DC |
Dec
1, 2005 |
Legislative
hearing raises questions about MPCA, 3M relationship.
|
By
Lorna Benson.
Minnesota Public Radio. |
Nov
30, 2005 |
New
discovery of C8 contradicts DuPont claims, say citizen groups;
state assumes authority over DuPont investigation.
Newly
discovered contamination of groundwater by a controversial
toxic chemical manufactured only at DuPont's Fayetteville,
North Carolina, facility contradicts the company's previous
claims about the source of the contamination and the dangers
posed to people and the environment... A
total of 24 out of the 28 groundwater and surface water
locations sampled in Sept/October 2005 revealed C8 contamination...
|
By
the North Carolina C8 Working Group.
Press Release. |
Nov
29, 2005 |
DuPont
seeking cause of seepage.
...
A chemical that has contaminated drinking water near a DuPont
plant in West Virginia has seeped into groundwater beneath
the Fayetteville plant where it is made. The chemical, ammonium
perfluorooctanoate, or APFO, is commonly called C8. It is
used by DuPont and other companies to make products including
fast-food wrappers, Teflon pans and coatings for wires and
semiconductors... The most contaminated
water was taken from a new monitoring well near the APFO
facility. That sample found
a concentration of 147 parts APFO per billion parts water.
That is about 100 times more than the amount discovered
beneath the other building in 2003...
Hudson said the facility releases
about 200 pounds of APFO into the air each year around the
plant... DuPont opened the $23 million
APFO facility in 2002 to produce the chemical after the
3M company stopped making it. The Fayetteville site
is the only place in the U.S. where the chemical is made.
|
By
Nomee Landis.
Fayetteville Observer (North Carolina). |
Nov
29, 2005 |
EPA,
DuPont finalize settlement in C8 lawsuit.
...
Lawyers for DuPont and the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency told an administration law judge on Nov. 23 that
they had reached a final agreement, but needed more time
to put together the paperwork. Judge Barbara Gunning then
gave the parties until Jan. 13 to file the formal agreement.
Officials from both the EPA and DuPont refused to release
terms of the deal ...
|
Associated
Press.
Akron Beacon Journal (Ohio). |
Nov
26, 2005 |
Nonstick
Taints: Fluorochemicals are in us all.
...
Nonstick cookware has been investigated as another likely
candidate, but in recent tests, the Food and Drug Administration
found fry pans to be a negligible source. However,
those tests showed that during microwaving, the grease-resistant
paper used in popcorn bags releases traces of PFOA to the
oil that coats the kernels.
Indeed, microwave popcorn is an extreme case. Paper temperatures
that can exceed 200 deg. C "significantly increase
the potential for [PFOA] migration," say the
FDA's Timothy H. Begley and his coworkers in College Park,
Md. In the October Food Additives and Contaminants,
they conclude that in their study of food-contact materials,
treated paper is the greatest potential source of fluorochemicals...
|
By Janet
Raloff. Science News. |
Nov
22, 2005 |
C8 and the Ohio
EPA.
...
Nicole and her family drank the Little Hocking Water Association's
contaminated water until recently when DuPont agreed to
supply water that was C8 free. Even so, tests under the
DuPont class action settlement found high levels of C8 in
Nicole and her family's blood. "My
little girl was 500 and mine was 700," said Taggert
referring to how many parts per billion of C8 were found
in their blood. The average American, by contrast, has 5
parts per billion of C8 in their blood.
The tests on Nicole, her family and thousands of other southeast
Ohioans found some of the highest C8 levels on earth...
|
By
Roger McCoy.
WBNS-10TV
(Ohio). |
Nov
16, 2005 |
Former
DuPont Top Expert: Company Knew, Covered Up Pollution of
Americans' Blood for 18 Years.
1973.
Ninety-day
feeding study in rats and dogs with Zonyl® RP. Report
No. 68-73. Medical Research Project No. 1491. Dupont Haskell
Laboratory for Toxicology and Industrial Medicine.
1966.
DuPont
Internal Memo discussing FDA rejection of Zonyl paper use
petition.
1987.
DuPont
Internal memo showing Zonyl over 3 times the FDA limit.
1984.
DuPont
Internal memo including petition to FDA showing approved
limits.
Nov
15, 2005.
Letter
to US FDA from the Environmental Working Group.
|
The
Environmental Working Group.
Press Release. |
Nov
16, 2005 |
Papers:
DuPont hid chemical risk studies.
DuPont
Co. hid studies showing the risks of a Teflon-related chemical
used to line candy wrappers, pizza boxes, microwave popcorn
bags and hundreds of other food containers, according to
internal company documents and a former employee. The chemical
Zonyl can rub off the liner and get into food. Once in a
person's body, it can break down into perfluorooctanoic
acid and its salts, known as PFOA, a related chemical used
in the making of Teflon-coated cookware... The
DuPont documents were made public Wednesday by the Environmental
Working Group, a research and advocacy organization... The
environmental group on Wednesday gave the FDA and the EPA
copies of DuPont-sponsored internal studies indicating higher
dangers from Zonyl than the government knew, including its
ability to migrate into the food. One of the documents,
a 1987 memo, cites laboratory tests showing the chemical
came off paper coating and leached into foods at levels
three times higher than the FDA limit set in 1967. Another
document, a 1973 Dupont study in which rats and dogs were
fed Zonyl for 90 days, said both types of animals had anemia
and damage to their kidneys and livers; the dogs had higher
cholesterol levels.
|
By
John Heilprin.
(Associated Press)
The Washington Post |
Nov
15, 2005 |
Letter
to US FDA from the Environmental Working Group.
...
The documents we are submitting (Exhibit
A) show that as of 1987, DuPont'" knowingly produced
Zonyl, a paper coating chemical allowed for food contact
use, in a manner where the amount of Zonyl that migrated
into foods (0.62 ppm) was over three times the FDA-agreed
upon limits (Exhibit B). Zonyl was, and presumably
still is, used as a grease and water barrier for paper food
containers for hundreds of popular food items from French
fry and pizza boxes to cookie and doughnut packages, candy
wrappers, and microwave popcorn bags. The allowable level
(a.k.a. extraction limit) of Zonyl in food is 0.2 ppm, and
this amount was the basis for the regulation set by FDA
in 1967 that governs the amount of Zonyl that may be applied
to papers useld as food packaging and hot food containers:
0.17 lb/1000 sq ft. This is still the legal level today
[21 CFR 176.1701. The enclosed document shows that DuPont
knew that applying Zonyl to paper at this rate resulted
in Zonyl in food at three times the level that FDA found
safe in 1967 (0.62 found in 1987 vs. 0.2 established as
the limit in 1967). We have very strong reasons to believe
that DuPont never informed the FDA of this important finding
even though it is clear that it could have had a major impact
on the public health, and could have triggered a reevaluation
of the safety of the Zonyl as a paper coating that leached
into foods...
•
Exhibit
A
• Exhibit
B
|
Letter
to
Robert E. Brackett, Ph.D. Director, Center for Food Safety
and Applied Nutrition, US. Food and Drug Administration
From
Richard Wiles
Senior Vice President
The Environmental Working Group |
Nov
15, 2005 |
Food wrappers
have excess C8, engineer says.
French-fry
boxes, microwave popcorn bags and pet food containers could
contain unsafe amounts of the toxic chemical C8, a longtime
DuPont Co. chemical engineer testified last year in a lawsuit
against the company. Glenn R. Evers, who left DuPont in
2002, said the company discovered the problem but did nothing
about it... During the months before the [class action]
settlement, residents’ lawyers obtained sworn statements
from a variety of current and former DuPont employees. In
April 2004, Evers answered questions under oath from the
residents’ lawyers for nearly eight hours.
During
this interview, called a deposition, Evers said DuPont learned
from a 1966 study that chemicals like C8 can be transferred
to food if they are used as package coatings. DuPont also
knew from a study that dogs that had been fed fluoro-chemicals
like C8 developed enlarged livers... DuPont
convinced the FDA that its product ZONYL RP would extract
to a range of 0.1 to 0.25 parts per million, Evers said.
“FDA said, ‘Fine. You are certified,’”
Evers said. Later,
DuPont discovered that ZONYL RP was leaching more than 0.5
parts per million of C8 into food packaging, Evers said.
“What
it meant was that we were out of compliance for that particular
product,” Evers said. “We shouldn’t be
selling it to the paper industry. More
of the fluorochemicals product was extracting from the paper
into water than what FDA allowed.”
|
By
Ken Ward Jr.
The Charleston Gazette (West Virginia). |
Nov
6, 2005 |
Thousands
sign up for C8 health screening.
|
By
Brian Farkas.
The Beacon Journal (Ohio). |
Nov
5, 2005 |
Teflon
value touted to SEC. DuPont says billions staked to use
of C-8.
About
$1 billion in DuPont Co. sales could be affected if the
federal government were to ban or restrict a chemical the
company uses to make Teflon, DuPont said Thursday in a Securities
and Exchange Commission filing.
|
By
Gary Haber.
The News Journal (Delaware). |
Nov
1, 2005 |
Customers
get water delivered in bottles.
...
Under the program, registered households
are eligible to receive up to three gallons of drinking
and cooking water per resident... DuPont has agreed
to finance the bottled water program until
the carbon filtration system is operational and effective
as agreed to by both DuPont and the Little Hocking Water
system.
|
Marietta
Times (Ohio) |
Oct
27, 2005 |
Steelworkers
union says DOE would be courting disaster in allowing DuPont
involvement in operation and clean-up of nuclear weapons plant
in South Carolina.
The
United Steelworkers (USW) sent a letter to the U.S. Secretary
of Energy,
concerning news that DuPont Company will partner with Fluor
Corporation to compete with other companies for contracts
worth $7.5 billion in managing and cleaning up the Savannah
River nuclear weapons site near Aiken, South Carolina. The
letter states:
...
Hiring DuPont to manage and clean up the Savannah River Site
is tantamount to hiring a wolf to guard a hen house... It
is notable that Fluor, DuPont's prospective
partner in this endeavor, is the main contractor for DuPont
at the company's Fayetteville, North Carolina site where C8
is produced. The C8 plant began operating in late 2002
with DuPont's assurances that C8 would not leak into the air
or water. However, three months later C8 was discovered in
groundwater and discharges to a nearby river. The USW's own
investigation revealed that information about the contamination
was not disclosed to state officials for almost six months...
•
See: September 2005 United Steelworkers International Union
report,
Not
Walking the Talk: DuPont's Untold Safety Failures,
that documents DuPont's poor record of safety performance
and environmental compliance. The report also shows how the
company covers up this deplorable record through carefully
engineered public relations efforts.
|
Letter
from James K. Phillips, Jr., Chair, USW Atomic Workers' Council
to Samuel W. Bodman, Secretary of US Department of Energy. |
Oct
26, 2005 |
Lawmakers
looking into 3M chemicals, 'outrageous' allegations.
...
Sen. John Marty, DFL-Roseville, said he was extremely troubled
by additional allegations: that Oliaei
has been reprimanded for talking to reporters, that she
has had to pay her own expenses and take vacation time to
present her findings at scientific conferences, that her
immediate supervisor who also wanted to expand the research
was replaced suddenly last year, and that her most recent
proposal was given to a different scientist and its objectives
changed. Marty,
committee chairman, said it is "outrageous"
that agency managers are overruling some of their experts.
It's "mucking around with science and telling scientists
not to do their work," he said...
Sen.
Sharon Marko, DFL-Cottage Grove, and others were displeased
that MPCA Commissioner Sheryl Corrigan
did not attend the hearing.
Corrigan was a manager for Maplewood-based 3M before her
appointment as commissioner in late 2002. Applegate
said Corrigan has recused herself from all decisions related
to 3M...
|
By
Tom Meersman.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune (Minnesota). |
Oct
25, 2005 |
MPCA
scientist tells lawmakers her research on 3M chemicals was
blocked.
This
report contains links to:
Toxic
Traces
Part 1: The
science
Part 2: The
neighbors
Part 3: The
politics
Part 4: The
company
Part 5: The
future
• The
long reach of perfluorinated chemicals
• A
timeline of PFCs
• Reporter's
notebook
• Resources
and links
|
By
Lorna Benson.
Minnesota Public Radio. |
Oct
25, 2005 |
Wood
residents oppose DuPont permits.
Wood
County residents turned out Monday night to object to the
latest permits for the landfill where DuPont Co. dumped
wastes containing the toxic chemical C8.
Under
the permits, the state Department of Environmental Protection
does not limit the amount of C8 that DuPont can discharge
from the landfill into tributaries of the Ohio River...
Since the dump opened in 1984, DuPont
has disposed of large amounts of C8-contaminated wastes
in the facility. Company tests have confirmed that C8 is
leaching from the landfill into Dry Run Creek at levels
above the company’s internal limits... The
landfill permits were last renewed for a five-year term
in April 1998 and formally expired April 2003.
|
By
Ken Ward Jr.
The Charleston Gazette (West Virginia). |
Oct
25, 2005 |
Public hearing
held to discuss industrial waste landfill.
Wood
County residents Monday voiced their concerns about an industrial
waste landfill owned by DuPont.
The Department of Environmental Protection held a 6 p.m.
public hearing at the Wood County Courthouse Annex on Market
Street. The issue at hand was the
renewal of a disposal permit for DuPont's Dry Run landfill.
The
Dry Run landfill, a 17-acre facility, is located near Lubeck...
The permit allows DuPont to discharge
C8 from the landfill into nearby creeks. Whyte said C8 is
not regulated by state or federal guidelines...
Whyte said DuPont plans to
close the landfill, and the company must submit a detailed
closure plan...
|
By
Rodger Adkins.
The Parkersburg News & Sentinel (West Virginia). |
Oct
24, 2005 |
Record
levels of toxic PFCs in Minnesota fish. Bioaccumulations
in Food Chain Are Building; Fish Advisory May Be Needed.
Alarmingly
high levels of a new toxic chemical have been found in Minnesota
fish in the Mississippi River near a 3M disposal site,
according to new state figures released today by Public
Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). The
record high levels of the chemical found in the livers of
predatory fish will be magnified in the livers of mammals,
including humans, who eat those fish. The chemicals
are PFCs (perfluorochemical compounds) which bio-accumulate
in living tissue and do not break down in the environment.
PFCs tend to concentrate in blood and liver tissues of fish
and mammals, with those concentrations growing each step
up the food chain. The
PFCs found in the latest study were manufactured by 3M...
Dr. Oliaei found “the highest concentration of [PFCs
in] any fish tested to date, and the second highest concentration…for
any animal species tested worldwide” in the livers
of smallmouth bass caught in the Mississippi near the 3M
site...
See
also:
• Whistleblower case: Fardin
Oliaei v. Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
• Lettter
from Minnesota State Senator John Marty to Marvin Hora,
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA).
|
Press
Release Public
Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) |
Oct 17, 2005 |
Before
There Was a C-8 Issue…
It was
10 years ago this month that farmer Earl Tennant spoke about
contamination of streams near the dry run landfill, a landfill
operated by DuPont Washington Works... And Tennant told
us the water from those streams was causing a
major weight loss in his livestock and a revenue
loss for his farm.... Changes involving
tougher testing requirements and for DuPont to cap C-8 discharges
from the landfill are being proposed by the West Virginia
Department of Environmental Protection.
|
By Todd Baucher
WTAP News (Marietta, Ohio) |
Oct
16, 2005 |
Agencies
widen study of toxins in fish.
|
By
Jeff Montgomery. The News Journal (Delaware) |
Oct
8, 2005 |
C8
testing process vital, but takes time.
|
Editorial.
Marietta Times. (Ohio). |
Sept
30, 2005 |
DuPont
Reports Leaks In Landfill.
...DuPont
reported the first of the two leaks in mid-June and the
second in July. The leaks appear to have caused the concentration
of the chemical C8 in the landfill's water discharge into
Dry Run to nearly double, according to company records...
|
The
Chief Engineer (IL) |
Sept
28 , 2005 |
3M wants papers
sealed. Suit over Scotchgard chemicals proceeds.
3M Co.
is prepared to hand over more than 500,000 pages of documents
related to its production of two chemicals but wants the
judge handling the Washington County lawsuit to seal the
records... 3M is just shifting the burden of determining
what is confidential to the residents' legal team, said
Mark Englehart, an attorney representing the Washington
County residents. The lawsuit, filed
almost a year ago, centers on 3M's production of two perfluorochemicals,
PFOA and PFOS, and their disposal at nearby dump sites.
The chemicals were made at 3M's Chemolite plant in Cottage
Grove...
|
By
John Welbes.
Pioneer Press (Minnesotta). |
August
31, 2005 |
Firm seeks new
pollution permit .
AGC
Chemicals Americas, Inc., also known as Asahi Glass, on
East 22nd Street off Route 440, has petitioned the state
for an air pollution control operating permit. It is required
to obtain the permit under federal Clear Air Act regulations
because it operates a "hazardous waste incinerator."
If the
permit is granted, AGC's incinerator would be allowed to
discharge into the air up to 1.68 pounds per year of arsenic
compound, up to 13,140 pounds per year of chlorine and up
to 1,752 pounds per year of hydrogen
fluoride, the DEP says.
...
One chemical the plant reportedly uses in the manufacturing
of a non-stick product, PFOA, has
been identified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
as a likely carcinogen, but no federal or state environmental
standards have yet been issued governing its discharge from
chemical plants...
|
By
Ronald Leir.
The Jersey Journal (Jersey City, NJ). |
August
29, 2005 |
Ignore rumors;
Teflon proven to be safe.
...
According to Dr. Elizabeth Whelan, a toxicologist and president
of the American Council on Science and Health, "Teflon,
probably more than any industrial product, is the poster
child of modern technology, one that has made our lives
easier and more enjoyable," and it is precisely the
product's "stellar success story [that] makes it
a very ripe target for those who spew chemical-phobia in
their crusade to eliminate the tools modern industrial chemistry
has given us -- pesticides, pharmaceuticals,
food additives, and more."
Never
distracted by the facts,
the strategy of many self-styled public
health advocacy organizations like the
Environmental Working Group, Greenpeace, Center for Science
in the Public Interest, and the Union of Concerned Scientists
realize that their charges need not be true but merely plausible.
...
Distortion and manipulation of science
by PR-savvy consumer groups in pursuit of political agendas
erodes our society's capacity to innovate and prosper...
|
By
Henry I. Miller.
Chicago
Sun-Times.
FAN
Notes:
•
Henry Miller is on the Board
of Directors of the American Council on Science and Health.
•
According to Peter Montague: ACSH is "a
scheme-tank supported by the chemical industry." (Ref:
Rachel's Environment & Health News.
# 656. A
Campaign of Reassuring Falsehoods. June 24, 1999.) |
August
28, 2005 |
DEP has no plans
to revisit C8 water limit.
...
In May 2002, DEP
finalized its 150-part-per-billion C8 limit following a
study led by Dee Ann Staats, who was
then the agency’s science adviser. Staats’
work on the project was funded by DuPont, and the chemical
company had a representative on the study team...
...
Emmett, whose research is funded by the federal government,
said he was especially concerned about childhood exposure
to C8.
In his study, Emmett said he
found that C8 levels of 150 parts per billion in water would
eventually result in blood levels in children of 20,000
to 25,000 parts per billion...
|
By
Ken Ward Jr. Sunday
Gazette-Mail (West Virginia). |
August
27, 2005 |
Nonstick
Pollution Sticks in People.
...
A person's body readily absorbs PFOA but doesn't readily
excrete it, says Tim Kropp, a toxicologist with the Environmental
Working Group, a Washington, D.C., advocacy group that has
been unearthing documents on the health effects and environmental
fate of nonstick chemicals. PFOA's
half-life in the body is 4.4 years. What that means, Kropp
says, is that even if no additional PFOA exposure occurred,
the body "would take about 2 decades to get rid of
about 99 percent of it."...
In Emmett's
study, among people living near the DuPont plant but not
working there, young children and
older adults tended to have the highest body burdens of
the pollutant. For instance, although the median
PFOA concentrations was 320 ppb in women and 346 ppb in
men, the median among children under 6 was around 500 ppb,
and concentrations in some 25 percent of them exceeded 800
ppb. Similarly, the median for people over 60 was 500 ppb
but many had blood concentrations "in the thousands,"
Emmett says. That's bad news, he said at the town hall meeting
in Ohio, because these are the most physically vulnerable
segments of society.
Another
apparent at-risk group: people who eat lots of homegrown
produce.
Emmett's team found that among Little Hocking water users,
those who ate no homegrown fruits and vegetables had median
PFOA concentrations of 295 ppb. However, those eating up
to 20 servings per week of garden produce had median concentrations
of 420 ppb, and the value climbed to 469 ppb for those who
ate even more home-grown fruits and veggies. ...
|
By
Janet Raloff.
Science News,
Vol. 168, No. 9. |
August
25, 2005 |
New
Discoveries of DuPont C8 Pollution in Fayetteville:
Additional Concerns Raised Over Government Inaction and
Threat to Drinking Water.
...
new evidence that ammonium perfluorooctanoate - or C8 -
has further contaminated groundwater wells and a discharge
channel leading to the Cape Fear River
at the DuPont Co. Fayetteville Works...
|
North
Carolina C8 Working Group
(a
coalition of public interest organizations) |
August
23, 2005 |
Free bottled water
available for reimbursement from DuPont.
--
Citizens can be reimbursed for
up to three gallons of drinking water per day for each person
in the household.
-- all schools
are immediately able to buy bottled water
-- Eligibility for non-residential
customers such as restaurants
will be determined in a case-by-case basis.
-- private well owners,
those citizens are eligible if it is determined that
the C8 level is 0.05 parts per billion or greater.
|
By
Tom Hrach.
The Marietta Times (Ohio). |
August
18-20, 2005 |
Fluoros
2005 Abstractbook
(133 pages):
An International Symposium on Fluorinated Alkyl Organics
in the Environment
Toronto, Canada
Topics
(133
pages):
Environmental Fate and Transport
Analytical Chemistry & Monitoring
Toxicology
Risk Assessment and Regulatory Policy
|
Oranizing
Committee Chair:
Professor Scott Mabury, University of Toronto |
August
18, 2005 |
“SCOTCHGARD”
WHISTLEBLOWER FILES FEDERAL FREE SPEECH LAWSUIT —
Gag Order Against Speaking with Legislators and at Scientific
Conferences on “Emerging Contaminants”
...
the chemicals at issue include –
• PFCs, perfluorochemical compounds, which bio-accumulate
in living tissue and do not break down. While not yet categorized
as a human carcinogen, PFCs have caused birth defects and
deaths in animal studies. 3M began to phase out production
of the chemicals in 2000, but hundreds of thousands of pounds
remain in the environment...
|
|
August
17, 2005
(Award
presented on July 26, 2005) |
West
Virginia, Ohio Attorneys Win 2005 Trial Lawyer of the Year
Award for Settlement Holding DuPont Accountable for C8 Pollution.
Six
West Virginia and Ohio lawyers received the 2005 Trial Lawyer
of the Year Award from The Trial Lawyers for Public Justice
(TLPJ) Foundation on July 26, 2005, for achieving
a groundbreaking settlement in Leach v. E.I. DuPont de Nemours
and Company, a class action lawsuit in which corporate giant
DuPont was sued for damages and medical monitoring stemming
from its leaking of perfluorooctanoic acid or “C8”
– a chemical used in producing nonstick cookware –
into the drinking water of Mid-Ohio Valley residents living
near DuPont’s Washington Works plant in Parkersburg,
West Virginia.
The
nation’s single most prestigious honor for trial lawyers,
the award is bestowed annually upon the lawyers who made
the greatest contribution to the public interest by trying
or settling a precedent-setting case.
The award was presented at The TLPJ Foundation’s Annual
Gala & Awards Dinner at The Carlu in Toronto to Charleston,
West Virginia attorneys Harry G. Deitzler,
R. Edison Hill, and James C. Peterson of Hill, Peterson,
Carper, Bee & Deitzler, PLLC (Hill, Peterson), Larry
A. Winter of Winter Johnson & Hill PLLC, and Cincinnati
attorneys Robert A. Bilott and Gerald J. Rapien of Taft,
Stettinius & Hollister LLP. ...
|
The
Trial Lawyers for Public Justice
The
Environmental Working Group |
August
17, 2005 |
U.S. EPA finds
C8 in drinking water near Circleville.
The
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday that DuPont
found evidence of ammonium perfluorooctanoate, also known
as PFOA and C8, in wells near the plant but did
not report the finding because C8 levels fell below a detection
level the company set. The wells were used by the Earnhart
Hill Regional Water and Sewer District.
"We
strongly believe the current approach described by DuPont
is not appropriate or acceptable," Cathy
Fehrenbacher, a chief with the agency's pollution prevention
and toxics office, wrote in an April 28 letter to DuPont.
...
The company has agreed to use a lower limit - between 3
and 5 parts per trillion - in samples collected this summer
near its Washington Works plant near Parkersburg, W.Va.,
said David Boothe, planning manager for DuPont Fluoroproducts.
The company's current limit is 10 parts per trillion...
...The
Ohio EPA on Monday issued a statement saying no C8 had been
detected in drinking water near the Circleville plant. The
state agency wasn't aware of the letter from federal officials
until Tuesday...
|
Associated
Press.
Akron Beacon Journal (Ohio). |
August
16, 2005 |
North Sea: Oil
industry released tons of toxic pollutant.
More than 80 tons of the toxic pollutant
known as Perfluorooctane sulphonate (PFOS) have been flushed
directly into the sea by Norwegian oil rigs between 1980
and 2005, according to the first ever estimate of the amount
of this toxic pollutant discharged by Norwegian oil rigs.
...
“Oil rig operators have discharged
fire-fighting foams called "Light Water AFFF"
directly into the sea during tests, spills and false
alarms,” said today marine biologist Per-Erik Schulze
of Friends of the Earth Norway...
Friends
of the Earth Norway urges Norwegian authorities to take
action
without delay and points out three priorities:
1.
Ban all further use of PFOS in the oil industry with immediate
effect
2. Safely remove and dispose existing fire-fighting foam
containing PFOS
from oil and gas installations
3. Warn the authorities of other countries with offshore
activities that
oil installations potentially are a major source of PFOS
contamination.
See
FOEN
estimates online
|
Press
Release.
Friends of the Earth Norway. |
August
16, 2005 |
Avoid
C8 water, researcher says.
Ohio
Valley residents should avoid drinking water contaminated
with DuPont Co.’s toxic chemical C8, the
lead researcher in a major government-funded study said
Monday night.
Dr.
Edward Emmett, a University of Pennsylvania scientist, also
said that the West Virginia Department of Environmental
Protection’s so-called safe limit for C8 in drinking
water — 150 parts per billion — needs to be
changed...
|
By
Ken Ward Jr.
The Charleston Gazette (West Virginia). |
August
16, 2005 |
Residents
skeptical of C8 study.
Dr.
Edward Emmett of the University of Pennsylvania School of
Medicine discusses his group’s findings on a broad
study of the chemical known as C8 Monday at Warren High
School... The study found
that the highest levels of C8 were found in children under
the age of 6 and adults over the age of 60.
Little
Hocking Water Association customers will receive coupons
for free bottled water paid for by DuPont after
an announcement Monday that preceded new information regarding
the health effects of the chemical C8.
According
to officials with the water association, the agreement was
reached with DuPont because of concern over recent information
showing high levels of the chemical C8 in the blood of its
12,000 customers...
David
Altman, a lawyer from Cincinnati representing the water
association, said it is still the association’s position
that its customers not use any water with C8 in it...
The free bottled water will be available until a carbon
filtration system is installed and in full operation, Altman
said. The process of installing that system is about 50
percent complete and could be done in a few months...
|
By
Kevin Pierson and Justin McIntosh.
The Marietta Times (Ohio). |
NOTE |
The
article above states:
The
study found that the highest levels of C8 were found in
children under the age of 6 and adults over the age of 60.
The article
below states:
Children
under 2 years old will not be permitted to have blood drawn,
Flensborg said. “We actually advise parents
not to have blood drawn on children 6 and under, but we
will do one stick,” she said...
|
August
16, 2005 |
People
look for answers as C8 blood tests begin.
...Monday
was the first day of testing for Belpre and Little Hocking
residents and was considered a test run for the health project’s
employees. Once the project is fully under way in Belpre,
as many as 128 citizens could be tested a day, said Patsy
Flensborg, project manager.
The goal is to test more than 60,000 people at the four
sites over the next year.
Children
under 2 years old will not be permitted to have blood drawn,
Flensborg said. “We
actually advise parents not to have blood drawn on children
6 and under, but we will do one stick,” she
said...
|
By
Justin McIntosh.
The Marietta Times (Ohio). |
August
16, 2005 |
Findings
by U Penn Researcher on Teflon Chemical.
...
the chemical accumulates in children,
and builds up in human blood at levels 106 times higher
than those in tap water. The
study author specifically recommended that parents avoid
using the polluted water in infant formula, and called his
new findings on children's blood levels "the exact
opposite of what we would want to see from a public-health
perspective."
|
Dr.
Tim Kropp and Jane Houlihan
Briefing
Memorandum
The Environmental Working Group |
August
16, 2005 |
Providing
bottled water a good move by DuPont.
|
Editorial.
The Marietta Times (Ohio). |
August
13, 2005 |
Group
to give results of C8 study.
Little
Hocking Water Association customers will have an opportunity
Monday to find out how the chemical C8 is affecting them,
as an independent research group releases
the full results of its C8 study...
•
A comment period remains open until Aug. 22 for the renewal
of DuPont’s permits for its Dry
Run landfill in Wood County. DuPont has reported
two leaks in the landfill this summer that appear to have
increased the discharge of C8.
|
By
Kate York.
The Marietta Times (Ohio). |
August
12, 2005 |
DuPont
C8 Tests OK With EPA. State agency is not concerned
that federal EPA suspects company might be withholding data.
...
DuPont tests of wastewater taken from a drainage ditch that
runs into the Scioto River show C8 at levels between 8.1
parts per billion and 9.8 parts per billion. Those
levels are higher than C8 found in three wells the Little
Hocking Water Association uses for drinking water in southeastern
Ohio... DuPont also estimates that its Circleville
plant releases 158 pounds of C8 into the air each year,
said Bill Spires, a manager in the Ohio EPA's air division.
|
By
Spencer Hunt.
The Columbus Dispatch (Ohio). |
August
12, 2005 |
C8
found in wastewater, air at DuPont's Circleville plant.
...
Tests from one holding pond at the plant that drains into
the river showed levels of C8 at 8.1 to 9.8 parts per billion,
according to Ohio EPA records obtained by The Columbus Dispatch.
Another holding pond that doesn't run into the river had
levels of the chemical, also known as ammonium perfluorooctanoate,
ranging from 9.4 to 13.2 parts per billion... Rob Banerjee,
manager of the Circleville plant, said on Wednesday that
the company started collecting wastewater
and incinerating it in December to prevent the chemical
from getting into the drinking water...
|
Associated
Press.
The Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio). |
August
11, 2005 |
Nonstick cookware
risk in question.
...
Industry representatives point out that consumer goods produced
in processes that use PFOA don't necessarily still contain
the chemical. But scientists have found that nonstick
coatings can chemically break down when heated, creating
and releasing PFOA into food and the environment...
Any
risks, though, may extend well beyond nonstick pots and
pans. The Food and Drug Administration has begun a preliminary
investigation into the migration of PFOA into food
heated in coated paper packaging, such as that used for
microwave popcorn, pizza boxes and french fry containers.
A spokesman for the FDA told The New York Times last month,
however, that it's too early to declare coated food packaging
a safety risk...
|
By
Suzanne Havala Hobbs.
The News & Observer (North Carolina) |
August
10, 2005 |
Union
raps DuPont on C-8 disclosure. Steelworkers urge health
warnings on products.
...
Union officials said companies have “a legal duty
to warn” customers about cance
r
risks and other health concerns posed by perfluorooctanoic
acid, also called PFOA or C-8. The
chemical is under investigation and has been tentatively
labeled as a likely carcinogen by a federal science panel.
“What
we are trying to do is simply allow these companies to warn
their customers and consumers that there’s maybe a
problem,” said Joseph Drexler, a spokesman for the
labor group. “So we’ve done an extensive mailing
to carpet cleaning companies, major retail clothing companies
and fast food chains.” ...
|
By
Jeff Montgomery.
The News Journal (Delaware). |
August
4, 2005 |
Agency
rebuffs information request in "Scotchguard" whistleblower
case. Issues raised by Minnesota scientist are at core
of Senator's Letter.
|
Press
Release Public
Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) |
August
3, 2005 |
Lettter
from Minnesota State Senator John Marty to Marvin Hora,
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA).
The
letter itemizes specific infomation on perfluorinated chemicals
previously requested but not received, for example:
Because
of the delay in receiving the information from Dr.
Oliaei, we also requested information on any barriers
that might have prevented her from sharing this information
with legislators. This information is even more pertinent
now, because the response we received
from our letter to her came from you, not her.
In addition, we saw media reports of a whistleblower lawsuit
shortly after that, in which she
alleged that she was being harassed by the MPCA because
of her research and communications on these issues.
|
Letter
from Minnesota Stat Senator to Marvin Hora, Minnesota Pollution
Control Agency |
August
3, 2005 |
The
North Carolina C8 Working Group Calls for investigation
of water contamination at DuPont Fayetteville Works;
"Likely Human Carcinogen" found in groundwater
and discharges to the Cape Fear River.
...
several of North Carolina’s leading public interest
organizations — including Clean
Water for North Carolina, the Waterkeeper Alliance, the
North Carolina Occupational Safety and Health Project, and
Cape Fear River Watch Inc. — formed
“The North Carolina C8 Working Group”
to ask state Department of Environmental and Natural Resources
(DENR) officials to act quickly to address public health
and safety concerns...
|
North
Carolina C8 Working Group |
July
28, 2005 |
New study finds
levels of chemical up in people using water.
Citizens
who use water from the Little Hocking Water Association
were found to have levels of the chemical C8 in their blood
60 to 80 times greater than what is typically found in the
general population.
A study
released Wednesday from an independent, government-sponsored
research group also determined that water was the major
cause of C8 in the blood of area citizens.
The study focused on residents in the communities of Belpre,
Little Hocking, Cutler and Vincent...
Edward
A. Emmett, professor of occupational and environmental medicine
at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, said
the early results from this study, combined with the uncertainty
about the chemical’s safety, prompted him to release
the results now.
The
latest study was funded through a four-year Environmental
Justice Partnership grant from the National Institute of
Environmental Health Services. The
study was done with environmental health scientists at Pennsylvania’s
School of Medicine, Decatur Community Association in Cutler
and a local physician with Grand Central Family Medicine
in Parkersburg.
“We
felt an ethical and moral obligation that once we were certain
the water was the main thing to let people and the authorities
and everybody know that,” Emmett said in a conference
call Wednesday...
|
By
Justin McIntosh and Tom Hrach.
The
Marietta Times (Ohio). |
July
24, 2005 |
Will
Environmental Fear Stick to DuPont's Teflon?
If
the E.P.A. were to take action against PFOA, it would be
the first major regulation of a chemical in more than 15
years. Of the more than 80,000 chemicals that have been
in commercial use since World War II, just five types are
regulated: PCB's, halogenated chlorofluoroalkanes,
dioxin, asbestos and hexavalent chromium.
|
By
Amy Cortese.
The New York Times. |
July
23, 2005 |
Water
system conducts C8 tests.
The
level of the chemical C8 in the blood of a small group of
Little Hocking Water Association customers has recently
been found to be much higher than residents living in Lubeck,
W.Va., much closer to the DuPont Washington Works plant
where the chemical is used.
According
to Robert Griffin, general manager of the water association:
“They were the highest we had
seen in non-workers ..."
|
By
Justin McIntosh.
The Marietta Times (Ohio). |
July
22, 2005 |
DuPont officials
say Teflon suit will not impact Bladen plant.
The
DuPont Fayetteville Works plant near the Cumberland County
line in northwest Bladen County [North Carolina] produces
the chemical used to make Teflon...
The plant is the only DuPont site that makes the chemical-perfluorooctanoate
(APFO)-used to produce the Teflon used in a wide
variety of products from cookware to phone cable, to computer
chips, and even clothing...
|
By
Jack McDuffie.
The Bladen Journal (North Carolina). |
July 20, 2005 |
Independent
tests find higher levels of C8.
|
By Callie Lyons.
The Athens Messenger (Ohio). |
July
20, 2005 |
DuPont
faces yet another class action suit over C8.
|
The
Associated Press.
The Marietta Times (Ohio). |
July
14, 2005 |
BodyBurden.
The Pollution in Newborns.
A benchmark investigation of industrial
chemicals, pollutants, and pesticides in human umbilical
cord blood.
-
Full
Report
- News
Release
- EWG
letter to Chemical Lobby
This
study reports the results of 287 industrial chemicals found
in umbilical cord blood from 10 babies born in August and
September of 2004 in U.S. hospitals. "The umbilical
cord blood of these 10 children, collected by Red Cross
after the cord was cut, harbored pesticides, consumer product
ingredients, and wastes from burning coal, gasoline, and
garbage."
Perfluorinated
chemicals (PFCs) - 12 tested, 9 found. Active ingredients
or breakdown products of Teflon, Scotchgard, fabric and
carpet protectors, food wrap coatings.
Perfluorochemical
(PFCs) [parts per billion wet weight] |
Chemical
class and subclass |
Concentrations
of chemicals in umbilical cord blood from 10 newborns
(average and range among individual umbilical cord blood
samples) |
Number
of newborn umbilical blood samples with detections |
Perfluorochemical
(PFCs) |
6.17
|
(3.37
- 10.6) |
10
of 10 |
Perfluorinated
sulfonate (PFOS) |
4.25
|
(2.26
- 7.760) |
10
of 10 |
Perfluorinated
carboxylic acid (PFOA) |
1.92 |
(1.1
- 2.870) |
10
of 10 |
|
Environmental
Working Group
Principal
authors: Jane Houlihan, Timothy Kropp, Richard Wiles, Sean
Gray, Chris Campbell |
July
13, 2005 |
Hundreds
fill cafeteria for C8 health project.
|
By
Tim Brust
The Marietta Times (Ohio) |
July
12, 2005 |
800
get briefing on C8 screenings
Health study to focus on residents near DuPont plant
See
C8 Health Project:
http://www.c8healthproject.org/
|
Associated
Press
The Charleston Gazette (West Virginia) |
July
10, 2005 |
DuPont
proposed, dropped ’81 study of C8, birth defects
|
By
Ken Ward Jr.
The Charleston Gazette (West Virginia) |
July
9, 2005 |
Screenings
set to test for effects from C8
A health
screening project, which will test levels of the chemical
C8 in the blood of residents in six water districts, is
scheduled to begin in late July or early August... Dr.
Paul Brooks and Art Maher of BrookMar Inc., an independent
commission appointed by the court to oversee and manage
the C8 health project...
|
By
Pamela Brust
The Marietta Times (Ohio)
|
July
9, 2005 |
Health
tests to start in DuPont deal.
|
Staff
and wire reports
The News Journal (Delaware). |
July
8, 2005 |
DuPont’s
editing of state’s reports on C8 worries Little Hocking
customers
Court
records uncovered last week show DuPont regularly reviewed
and edited West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection
media releases concerning C8, which has area residents concerned
about what else the company might be trying to keep from
the pubic... The Little Hocking Water Association is one
of the water districts where C8 can be found. About
12,000 customers are served by the water association, which
has the highest concentrations of C8 contamination of any
public water supply in the United States...
|
By
Brad Bauer
The Marietta Times (Ohio)
|
July
8, 2005 |
Final
Enforceable Consent Agreement and Testing Consent Order
for Four Formulated Composites of Fluoropolymer Chemicals;
Export Notification.
EPA
has issued a testing consent order (Order) that incorporates
an enforceable
consent agreement (ECA) with
AGC Chemicals Americas,
Inc.; Daikin
America, Inc.; Dyneon, LLC;
and E.I. du Pont de Nemours
and Company
(the Companies)...
...
Data developed from the ECA testing will contribute to the
Agency's [EPA] efforts to determine whether municipal and/or
medical waste incineration of
fluoropolymer
(FP) chemicals
is a potential source and/or pathway of environmental and
human exposure to perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA)...
NOTE:
• There were 159 documents attached to this
Docket. FAN has downloaded each document and they are available
at
http://www.fluorideaction.org/pesticides/pfoa-eca/index.html
•
See also List
of Fluoropolymer Chemicals to be used in incineration tests
|
US
EPA
Federal Register.
Docket OPPT-2003-0071 |
July
8, 2005 |
US
EPA new site on Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA)
|
US
EPA |
July
7, 2005 |
DuPont
disputes EPA's C-8 review.
|
By
Jeff Montgomery.
The News Journal (Delaware). |
July 7, 2005 |
Review
board members differ on potential risks of Teflon chemical.
|
By Randall Chase.
The Charlotte Observer (North Carolina). |
July
7, 2005 |
Our Opinion: C8
issue is no place for meddling with government
|
Editorial
The Marietta Times (Ohio)
|
July
7, 2005 |
Group
calls for Timmermeyer to quit over C8.
|
By
Ken Ward Jr.
The Charleston Gazette (West Virginia). |
July
6, 2005 |
Environmental
Quality Board hears DuPont case
|
The
Marietta Times (Ohio)
|
July
6, 2005 |
DuPont
shares new human health Research on PFOA with EPA Science
Advisory Board
|
DuPont
press release |
July
4, 2005 |
PFOA
called likely human carcinogen. EPA
science advisers say agency needs to assess cancer risk
from compound.
|
By
Cheryl Hogue
Chemical & Engineering News |
July
3, 2005 |
DuPont
lawyer edited DEP's C8 media releases.
...
Last week, Gallagher confirmed in an interview that
Dee Ann Staats, a toxicologist hired
as the DEP’s science adviser, insisted that DuPont
review, edit and approve all C8-related statements issued
by the state.
...In
a sworn statement filed with the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, Gallagher explained that DuPont
regularly reviewed and edited DEP news releases concerning
C8 issues...
|
By
Ken Ward Jr.
The Gazette Gazette-Mail (West Virginia) |
June
28, 2005 |
Independent
Science Panel to EPA: Teflon Chemical is 'Likely' Human
Carcinogen.
Findings Create Pressure on Bush EPA to Stop Pollution of
Americans' Blood With Hyper-persistent Chemical, Level Maximum
Fine.
Excerpts
from the panel's report:
"In
considering the collective evidence the majority of panel
members concluded that the experimental weight of evidence
with respect to the carcinogenicity of PFOA was stronger
than proposed in the draft document, and suggested that
PFOA is a 'likely' carcinogen in humans."
(p. 2)
"In
the evaluation of carcinogenicity, the Panel supports the
inclusion of multiple cancer endpoints" (p.
3)
"Immunotoxicity
has been reported, and derivations of MOEs for such effects
are encouraged. Given the prevalence
of PPAR receptors, including PPAR-alpha in brain,
effects on nervous system structure and function warrant
attention." (pp. 3-4)
Note:
PPAR = peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor
|
Press
Release from
The Environmental Working Group |
June
28, 2005 |
EPA
panel calls C-8 a ‘likely’ carcinogen
|
By
Jeff Montgomery
The News Journal (Wilmington, Delaware) |
June
27, 2005 |
Draft
Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) Risk Assessment Report
This
draft report was reviewed by the Perfluorooctanoic Acid
(PFOA) Risk Assessment Review Panel on a Public Teleconference
on July 6, 2005.
|
US
EPA Science Advisory Board
Draft Report |
June
25, 2005 |
C8
project on track to start this summer
...
The effort includes gathering medical histories and blood
samples from residents of six water districts considered
“class” members for purposes of the civil action.
The
six districts are Lubeck Public Service District, Mason
County in West Virginia, and Little Hocking, Belpre, Tuppers
Plains and Pomeroy in Ohio... Project
coordinators are encouraging class members to go ahead and
register at the project Web site to facilitate the process.
The Web site address is http://www.c8healthproject.com/
|
By Pamela Brust
The
Marietta Times (Ohio)
|
June
24, 2005 |
DuPont-DEP
meeting on Wood C8 dump set
...
The 17-acre dump, about four miles southwest of the community
of Lubeck, is at the center of a controversy over the toxic
chemical C8. Since the dump was opened in 1984, DuPont has
disposed of large amounts of C8-contaminated wastes in the
Dry Run facility...
|
By
Ken Ward Jr.
The Charleston Gazette (West Virginia) |
June
23, 2005 |
Wood
County water quality reports OK
|
By
Evan Bevins
The Parkersburg News & Sentinel (West Virginia) |
June
15, 2005 |
Little
Hocking customers asked to conserve water ... If
the water demand is not reduced, the association will have
to begin using Well No. 5, which has been found to have
a higher level of the chemical C-8 than the other wells.
|
By
Kate York
The Marietta Times (Ohio) |
June
15, 2005 |
The
Sticking Point. Nonstick pans are a boon to cooks, but are
there dangers lurking beneath the surface?
|
By
David Rubien
San Francisco Chronicle |
June
14, 2005 |
Sweden
calls for world ban on PFOS chemical
|
By
Daniel Frykholm
Reuters |
May
28, 2005 |
Board
wants more review of DEP's C8 deal ... for a toxic
waste dump at DuPont Co.'s Wood County plant.
|
By
Ken Ward Jr.
The Charleston Gazette
(West Virginia) |
May
26, 2005 |
DuPont
monitors chemical pollution
...
DuPont
officials say the chemical [ammonium
perfluorooctanoate or APFO]
did not come from the new $23 million building where it
is produced but from a leaking cement
cistern beneath another building...
DuPont's Fayetteville Works plant is the only facility in
the United States that makes the chemical... EPA records
show the company has trucked APFO waste products to Arkansas
and New Jersey...
|
By Nomee Landis
Fayetteville Observer [Arkansas] |
May
26, 2005 |
Chemical
found in groundwater near DuPont plant in Fayetteville
... the same chemical that contaminated
public water supplies around a DuPont plant in West Virginia.
|
Associated
Press |
May
20, 2005 |
DuPont
faces C8 criminal probe
Department of Justice demands company turn over documents
|
By
Ken Ward Jr.
The Charleston Gazette
(West Virginia) |
May
16, 2005 |
"Scotchguard"
whistleblower files federal complaint. Minnesota
scientist cites threats by ex-3M executive heading MN Pollution
Control Agency.
A Minnesota
state scientist has filed a federal whistleblower
complaint over threats, reprimands and restraints against
her for disclosing widespread contamination stemming from
release of chemicals used by the 3M Corporation for 50 years
in a number of popular consumer products, according
to a copy of the filing released today by Public Employees
for Environmental Responsibility (PEER)...
After
Dr. Oliaei discovered PFC contamination in half of the fish
she examined from what are considered pristine waters of
Voyageurs National Park, the agency denied her repeated
request to broaden the investigation. In recent weeks, the
harassment of Dr. Oliaei includes –
•
A reprimand for comments she made
in an agency-approved interview with Minnesota Public Radio.
The agency now contends that Dr. Oliaei’s remarks
lacked proper “disclaimers,” misstated the agency
position and “dishonored the hard work” of colleagues;
and
• An order forbidding her to
supply information requested by members of the State Legislature.
MPCA
Commissioner
Sheryl Corrigan,
a former 3M executive, has told Dr. Oliaei that there is
no room in the agency for “scientific work.”
MPCA manager Marvin Hora also
told Dr. Oliaei that if she kept pushing
the PFC issue “I will terminate the program (emerging
contaminants) and you are the only one in the program.”
Last week, on May 11th, Dr. Oliaei’s
supervisor asked “Why
are you still here? If you really want to be effective,
you better get a job somewhere else.” ...
-- Read
Dr. Oliaei’s whistleblower complaint: Fardin
Oliaei v. Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
--
See the reprimand
for her interview with Minnesota Public Radio
--
Look
at the MPR story
|
Press
Release Public
Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) |
May
13, 2005 |
Fardin
Oliaei v. Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
This
is a complaint by Dr. Fardin Oliaei against the Minnesota
Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) and Sheryl Corrigan, Mike
Sandusky, Marvin Hora, Doug Hall, and Paul Hoff (employees
of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency) for discrimination
under several Federal environmental statutes. Dr. Oliaei
requests an investigation of her complaint.
Specifically,
Dr. Oliaei is being subjected to a campaign of harassment
at MPCA because of her efforts - as required by her position
as an MPCA research scientist focusing on emerging contaminants
– to study, test and monitor various emerging contaminants
in Minnesota, specifically including perfluorochemical
compounds (PFCs) that had been manufactured by Minnesota
Mining and Manufacturing (3M). Dr. Oliaei is responsible
for bringing to the public’s attention important environmental
issues impacting public health through disclosures to her
managers, Minnesota Public Radio and other media, and to
members of the Minnesota Legislature...
|
Before
the US Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration |
May
13, 2005 |
Minnesota
Pollution Control Agency Reprimand to Dr. Oliaei over her
interview with Minnesota Public Radio..
|
Memo from
Paul Hoff, Supervisor, Environmental Information and Reporting
Unit, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to Fardin Oliaci, Research
Scientist |
April
28, 2005
|
WWF
Lists 20 Chemicals to Be Added to POPs Treaty
|
Press
Release from World Wildlife Fund |
April
28, 2005 |
Environmental,
labor group ideas rejected.
Protesters picket DuPont shareholders meeting.
|
By
RICHARD SINE
The News Journal (Delaware) |
April
27, 2005 |
DuPont
proposal on disclosing PFOA costs is rejected
|
By
Bob Fernandez
Philadelphia Inquirer |
April
24, 2005 |
Well-water
concerns on tap. Trace pollutants from private taps prompting
search for fixes.
...
Jim Kelly, a health risk assessor for the Health Department,
said the PFOS levels ranged from 1.2 ppb to about 3.5 ppb;
levels above 1 ppb are considered unsafe. Those residents,
like Eder, were given bottled water to drink...
|
By
Nancy Yang and Mary Divine
St. Paul Pioneer Press (Minnesota) |
April
13, 2005 |
Amalgamated
Bank to Vote 'FOR' DuPont Stockholder Proposal
- Investors Seek Board Disclosure
Related to Consequences of Chemical Used in Teflon(R)
|
Press
Release
Source: Amalgamated Bank |
April
12, 2005 |
DuPont
Investor Coalition Urges Shareholders to Back C8 Disclosure
Proposal.
Thousands of shareholders warned about possible impact of
hidden C8 costs
|
Press
Release from DuPont Shareholders for Fair
Value (DSFV) |
April
11, 2005 |
ACSH
challenges animal tests as cancer indicator in humans (from
Chemical News & Intelligence)
|
By Brian
Ford
News item from Chemical News & Intelligence
posted
by the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) |
April
8, 2005 |
DuPont
Shareholder Seeks Disclosure of Expenses on Chemical Being
Studied by EPA
|
Associated
Press |
April
1, 2005 |
Letter
sent to Paper Company Officers
from Boyd Young, International President, PACE
...
One fluorinated telomer, known as Zonyl®,
is manufactured by DuPont and is widely used in the paper
and forest industry. I am deeply concerned that PACE members
may not be getting sufficient information about Zonyl®,
and that DuPont may not have fully informed employers about
the potential harmful effects ...Zonyl® is applied to
linerboarrd, folding cartons, bags, fast food wrappers, flexible
packaging, support cards to candy/bakery products, pet food
liners, trays, and uplicator/reproduction paper. Zonyl®
is linked to serious health risks, including birth defects,
cancer, developmental problems and high cholesterol, a risk
factor for heart attack and stroke ...
Fact
Sheet on DuPont Zonyl
PACE
- ZONYL Chemical Survey
List
of Paper Companies |
PACE
Paper, Allied-Industriral, Chemical Enegey Workers International
Union |
PACE
Paper, Allied-Industriral, Chemical Enegey Workers International
Union |
March
23, 2005 |
C8
testing could begin in July
|
By
Pamela Brust
The Marietta Times (Ohio) |
March
2005 |
Report:
Sick
of Dust
Chemicals in Common Products -
A needless Health Risk in Our Homes
The
report found six classes of chemicals in household dust,
including:
Perfluorinated
surfactants -- two of them PFOS and PFOA -- are in floor
polishes, film and denture cleaners. PFOA
is used to make Teflon cookware. The
surfactants are also in Gore-Tex.
They are potentially carcinogenic and damage organ function
and sexual development in lab animals.
Excerpt
from Table 4. Summary analytical results for individual
contaminants in all samples |
Perfluorinated
Chemicals |
Occurrence |
Average
concentration |
Minimum
concentration |
Maximum
concentration |
Perfluorooctanoic
acid [PFOA] |
7/7 |
0.0787 |
0.0185 |
0.2051 |
Perfluorooctanyl
sulfonate [PFOS] |
7/7 |
0.4244 |
0.0764 |
1.1709 |
|
By
Pat Costner, Beverly Thorpe, and Alexandra McPherson
Safer
Products Project
A
project of
Clean Production Action |
March
23, 2005 |
Study
says household dust holds dangerous chemicals. Homes
in 7 states tested for residues of consumer goods.
|
By
Jane Kay
San Francisco Chronicle |
March
20, 2005 |
Du
Pont, 3M to cut nonstick chemical
Companies
will reduce possible carcinogen PFOA at end of 2006
|
By
Douglas Fischer,
Inside Bay Area
Alameda Times-Star (California) |
Released
March 18, 2005 |
Teflon
and Human Health: do the charges stick? Assessing the safety
of the chemical PFOA. - April 2005
Comments
and contributions from those who reviewed all or part of
the longer position paper on which this booklet is based:
Larry
Beeson, Loma Linda University
Hinrich L. Bohn, U. of Arizona
Joseph F. Borzelleca, Virginia Commonwealth University
John Doull, U. of Kansas
Gordon W. Gribble, Dartmouth College
F. Peter Guengerich, Vanderbuilt U. School of Medicine
Theodore R. Holford, Yale U. School of Medicine
Rudolph J. Jaeger, Environmental Medicine, Inc.
Manfred Kroger, Pennsylvania State U.
Roger P. Maickel, Purdue U.
Thomas H. Milby, Walnut Creek, CA
Ian C. Munro, Cantox Health Sciences
International
Roy F. Spalding, U. of Nebraska
Arelene Weiss, Environmental Medicine, Inc.
James
J. Worman, Rochester Institute of Technology
See
also: Press Relase
Notes
from EC:
•
John Doull is currently Chairman of the National Research
Council Committee: Toxicologic
Risk of Fluoride in Drinking Water. Dr. Doull was a long-serving
member of the ACSH Board of Scientific and Policy Advisors
until July 2003. In May 2003 I submitted
comments to this committee requesting that Dr. Doull be
removed as Chair. While he was not removed, his name disappeared
from the ACSH Board by July 2003. (See also FAN's
website on the NRC Committee.)
•
Ian Munro, an ACSH board member, undermined scientific integrity
when he served as Chair of the Subcommittee on Upper Reference
Levels of Nutrients for a 1997 Institute of Medicine report.
It was Dr. Munro's Committee which established the unbelievably
high Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) for fluoride of 10
mg/day for "Children and Adults > 8 years". (Ref:
Dietary reference
intakes for calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, vitamin D, and
fluoride. - The
recommendations in this report are applicable
to the US and Canada.)
See correspondence on this issue: 1997
and 1998, 1998-1999.
..... Dr. Munro's consulting
firm, CANTOX, services the wants of industry in Canada. For
example, CANTOX was the consultanting firm that successfully
represented their client to obtain a permit in 2001 to burn
30,000 parts-per-million (not a typo) of PCBs in Cornwall,
Ontario, Canada. The parties to this Hearing opposing the
permit were Paul and Ellen Connett and the Mohawks at Akwesasne.
•
See list of ACSH Board
Members |
Prepared
for The American Council on Science and Health (ACSH)
According
to Peter Montague: ACSH is "a scheme-tank
supported by the chemical industry." (Ref: Rachel's
Environment & Health News.
# 656. A
Campaign of Reassuring Falsehoods. June 24, 1999.) |
March
18, 2005 |
DuPont
C8 Announcement 'Too Little, Too Late' to Protect Workers,
Consumers
- PACE International Union says company still fails to come
clean about health risks of C8 and related chemicals
|
Press
Release
PACE International Union |
March
17, 2005 |
DU
finds no Teflon-related contamination in water, but lawsuit
test results disagree
|
By
Martin Burkey
The Decatur Daily (Alabama)
|
March
15, 2005 |
Two
versions of an Associated Press report:
DuPont
Decision
|
By
Denise Alex
WTAP News (Parkersburg, West Virginia) |
DuPont
to cut amount of chemical used to make Teflon
|
The
Beacon Journal (Ohio) |
March
14, 2005 |
How
we depend on chemicals
|
By
Douglas Fischer
Ukiah Daily Journal (Mendocino County, California) |
March
11, 2005 |
More
3M water testing urged. Group targets two chemicals.
|
BY
JENNIFER BJORHUS
St. Paul Pioneer Press (Minnesota) |
March
9, 2005 |
Letter
to: Ms. Sheryl Corrigan, Commissioner, Minnesota Pollution
Control Agency
From: Jane Houlihan, Vice President for Research, EWG
|
Envronmental
Working Group |
March
5, 2005 |
C8
suit's settlement could set precedent
|
By
Justin McIntosh
The Marietta Times (Ohio) |
March
2, 2005 |
Case
may yield lawyers $82 million
|
By
George Hohmann
Charleston Daily Mail (West Virginia) |
March
1, 2005 |
•
Judge
approves DuPont settlement
Company agrees to pay at least $107.6 million over use of
chemical C8
|
By:
Ken Ward Jr.
Charleston Gazette (West Virginia) |
March
1, 2005 |
Wood
County judge OKs settlement in C8 class-action suit
|
The
Marietta Times (Ohio)
From staff and wire reports |
Feb
24, 2005 |
EPA
Science Advisers Suggest Greater Cancer Potency Of C-8
|
InsideEPA |
Feb
24, 2005 |
MPCA
slow to look into contamination from 3M chemical
|
Associated
Press
Grand Forks Herald (Minnesotta) |
Feb
23, 2005 |
Drinking
Water Utility Says Problems Arise From Lack Of Guidance
on Perfluorooctanoic Acid
|
By:
Pat Phibbs
Bureau of National Affairs |
Feb
22-23, 2005 |
Human
Health Risks from Exposure to Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA)
Presentation
to: EPA Science Advisory Board, PFOA Review Panel
|
By:
Jane Houlihan and Tim Kropp,
Environmental Working Groupo |
Feb
22-23, 2005 |
Comments
from the The Little Hocking Water Association, Inc. Little
Hocking, Ohio. to the EPA Science Advisory Board, PFOA Review
Panel
|
Bob
Griffin
General Manager The
Little Hocking Water Association, Inc. |
Feb
22, 2005 Update |
Evauating
human health risks from exposure to Perfluorooctanoic Acid
(PFOA):
Recommendations
to the Science Advisory Board's PFOA Review Panel.
|
By:
Timothy Kropp, Ph.D., Senior Toxicologist
Jane Houlihan, M.S., Vice President for Research
Environmental Working Group,
Washington, DC |
Feb
22, 2005 |
•
See
website: Perfluorooctanoic Acid Human Health Risk Assessment
Review Panel (PFOA Review Panel)
|
US
EPA |
Feb
4, 2005 |
DU
considers water sampling for Teflon
|
By
Martin Burkey
The Decatur Daily (Alabama) |
Feb
3, 2005 |
Group
seeks Teflon test of Decatur tap water
|
By
Martin Burkey
The Decatur Daily (Alabama) |
Jan
18, 2005 |
EPA
charges DuPont hid Teflon's risks. U.S. orders study on
health perils of key chemical.
|
By
Michael Hawthorne
Chicago Tribune |
Jan
15, 2005 |
January
15, 2005. Canada
Gazette. Part 1. Vo. 139, No. 3.
[at least 50 chemicals are cited]
Notice
with respect to certain perfluoroalkyl and fluoroalkyl substances.
Pursuant to paragraph 71(1)(b) of the Canadian Environmental
Protection Act, 1999, notice is hereby given that the Minister
of the Environment requires, for the purpose of assessing
whether the substances listed in Schedule 1 to this notice
are toxic or are capable of becoming toxic, or for the purpose
of assessing whether to control or the manner in which to
control the listed substances, any person described in Schedule
2 to this notice who possesses or who may reasonably be expected
to have access to the information required in Schedule 3 to
this notice to provide that information no later than April
28, 2005, at 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.
SCHEDULE
1 Substances
The substances included in the scope of this notice are those
that meet the following criteria: Perfluoroalkyl and fluoroalkyl
substances that contain the chemical fragment R-(CF2)n-R',
where n is greater than or equal to 3, R is any atom or molecular
moiety, R' is any atom or molecular moiety other than H, F
or Cl, and any F may be substituted with a perfluoroalkyl
group. (Excluding perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), its salts,
and its precursors that contain the C8F17SO2, C8F17SO3, or
C8F17SO2N group.) The following are examples of substances
meeting the above criteria.
1. Fluoro acrylate polymers
2. Fluoro acrylates
3. Fluoro alcohol derivatives
3. Fluoro alcohol derivatives
4. Fluoro alcohols
5. Fluoro esters
6. Fluoro phosphates
7. Fluoro sulfonamides
8. Fluoro sulfonates
9. Fluoro thioethers
10. Fluoro urethanes
11. Perfluoro carboxylic acids
12. Perfluoro ethers
13. Perfluoroalkylsulfonamide alcohol derivatives
14. Perfluoroalkylsulfonamide aminopropyl derivatives
15. Perfluoroalkylsulfonamide chromium complex derivatives
16. Perfluoroalkylsulfonamide glycine derivatives
17. Perfluoroalkylsulfonamide phosphate derivatives
18. Perfluoroalkylsulfonamide polyethoxylate derivatives
19. Perfluoroalkylsulfonamides
20. Perfluoroalkylsulfonates
21. Perfluoroalkylsulfonyl derivatives
22. Miscellaneous perfluoroalkyl and fluoroalkyl substances:
Excluded
from the scope of this notice are
• totally halogenated chlorofluorocarbons that have
the molecular formula CnClxF(2n+2-x) (CFCs);
• hydrochlorofluorocarbons that have the molecular formula
CnHxFyCl(2n+2-x-y) (HCFCs);
• hydrofluorocarbons that have the molecular formula
CnHxF(2n+2-x) (HFCs);
• perfluorocarbons that have the molecular formula CnF(2n+2)
(PFCs);
• perfluoroalkene polymers (including polytetrafluoroethylene);
and
• perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), its salts, and its
precursors that contain the C8F17SO2, C8F17SO3, or C8F17SO2N
group. |
Canada
Department of Environment
Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 |
Jan
13, 2005 |
Teflon
Chemical's Potential Risk Cited
|
By
Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post |
Jan
4, 2005 |
Executive
Summary - 10 pages - Draft
Risk Assessment of the potential human health effects associated
with exposure to perfluorooctanoic acid and its salts
|
US
EPA Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, Risk Assessment
Division |
Jan
4, 2005 |
Full
report - 132 pages - Draft
Risk Assessment of the potential human health effects associated
with exposure to perfluorooctanoic acid and its salts
|
US
EPA Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, Risk Assessment
Division |