EPA to fine DuPont over ingredient in Teflon.The Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), independent agency of the U.S. government, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1970 to reduce and control air and water pollution, noise pollution, and radiation and to ensure the safe handling and says it may levy a fine surpassing $300 million against the Wilmington, Del.-based chemical giant DuPont. The government accuses the company of concealing for 2 decades that it was contaminating the environment with perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA PFOA Perfluorooctanoic Acid (suspected carcinogen used in making Teflon) PFOA Problem Formulation and Options Assessment PFOA Peninsula Friends of Animals (Sequim, WA) ) and putting at risk the health of workers. DuPont uses the synthetic chemical in the manufacture of many stain-resistant and nonstick non·stick adj. Permitting easy removal of adherent food particles: a frying pan with a nonstick surface. nonstick Adjective substances, including some Teflon coatings. PFOA, which research has shown can produce cancer and birth defects birth defects, abnormalities in physical or mental structure or function that are present at birth. They range from minor to seriously deforming or life-threatening. A major defect of some type occurs in approximately 3% of all births. in animals, is present in nearly everyone's blood, but only in small amounts. EPA EPA eicosapentaenoic acid. EPA abbr. eicosapentaenoic acid EPA, n.pr See acid, eicosapentaenoic. EPA, n. isn't seeking to ban the chemical, but the agency considers the health of people who work with it to be at risk. In 1981, DuPont scientists discovered PFOA in the blood of some company workers in concentrations that should have prompted notification of federal officials, EPA says. Soon afterward, DuPont detected the chemical in public water supplies near its plants. However, the company didn't inform EPA of either finding, even after the agency requested data on the chemical in 1997. A lawyer suing DuPont on behalf of communities near one of the company's plants provided the agency with the data in 2001. DuPont maintains that it followed the law.--B.H. |
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