C8. August 14, 2004. Dupont: chemical no longer used. Firms says PFOA's use at Chesterfield plant ended in late 1990s. Richmond Times-Dispatch (Virginia).

FLUORIDE ACTION NETWORK PESTICIDE PROJECT

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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).

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August 14, 2004

Richmond Times-Dispatch (Virginia)

DuPont: Chemical no longer is used

Firm says PFOA's use at Chesterfield plant ended in late 1990s

DuPont officials said yesterday that the company stopped using the chemical PFOA at its Spruance manufacturing site in Chesterfield County [Virginia] in the late 1990s.

The Environmental Protection Agency is seeking millions of dollars in fines from DuPont. The EPA contends the company failed to provide information about levels of the chemical, perfluorooctanoic acid, found in groundwater and in the blood of workers at a DuPont plant in West Virginia.

The chemical is used in making Teflon. DuPont used to make Teflon fibers at the Spruance plant but phased out production after selling the business unit here in October 2002, the company said.

"What we are talking about here is a decades-old incident that occurred in West Virginia," said Cathy Andriadis, a DuPont spokeswoman. "This is not an issue that is even a question for the Spruance site."

DuPont said this week that it had no legal obligation to provide data to the EPA about the levels of PFOA found in workers at the West Virginia plant and in nearby groundwater.

Andriadis said the dispute involves reporting requirements, not the safety of PFOA, which she said is not present in consumer products such as cookware. "There is not a safety issue with products that use or include DuPont Teflon."

A spokesman for the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality said that the agency had no record of any complaints or investigations into PFOA locally.

Ohio and West Virginia residents who live near the West Virginia plant using PFOA have filed a class-action lawsuit against the company. They are seeking testing to determine whether the chemical could cause health problems.

The chemical has been linked to delayed sexual maturation, liver problems and infant mortality in rats, but it is unclear whether these findings are relevant to humans. - John Reid Blackwell