Following the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Jan. 25 announcement of its 2010/15 PFOA Stewardship Program, there have been confusing headlines and coverage. We are providing the following information to ensure that you have the facts.
1. DuPont has committed to virtually eliminate the sources of exposure to PFOA from our manufacturing operations and products by 2015.
We believe this meets the goals set forth by the EPA. Those goals are:
-
To commit to achieve, no later than 2010, a 95 percent reduction, measured from a year 2000 baseline, in both:
- facility emissions to all media of PFOA, precursor chemicals that can break down to PFOA, and related higher homologue chemicals, and;
- product content levels of PFOA, precursor chemicals that can break down to PFOA, and related higher homologue chemicals.
-
To commit to working toward the elimination of PFOA, PFOA precursors, and related higher homologue chemicals from emissions and products by five years thereafter, or no later than 2015.
2. DuPont will continue to meet the needs of its customers.
DuPont believes, with its science and technology, that the EPA's goals can be achieved while continuing to provide fluoropolymer and fluorotelomer products to meet its customers' needs.
3. DuPont will continue to use the Teflon® brand and support Teflon® branded products to meet the needs of its customers.
Teflon® is not PFOA. Teflon® is a brand name and a registered trademark of DuPont. DuPont will continue to use the Teflon® brand.
4. Consumer products associated with PFOA are safe for consumer use.
Federal regulatory agencies have not called on consumers to stop using products made with or containing trace amounts of PFOA. DuPont agrees fully with their conclusions. To date no human health effects are known to be caused by PFOA.
DuPont believes the weight of evidence indicates that PFOA exposure does not pose a health risk to the general public. Also, in over 50 years of working with PFOA, there is no association of cancer in workers who handle or use PFOA.
5. Cookware made with Teflon® non-stick coatings is made from fluoropolymers, not PFOA.
PFOA is an essential processing aid used to make fluoropolymers - high performance plastics manufactured by a number of companies. PFOA and Teflon® are entirely different - one is a processing aid, the other is a product brand. It is inaccurate to describe PFOA as an ingredient in cookware coated with Teflon®. PFOA is a processing aid used to manufacture fluoropolymers, some of which are sold under the Teflon® brand.
6. Studies based on U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) standard testing methods that reflect typical cooking use conditions have found no detectable levels of PFOA in non-stick coatings used for cookware sold under the Teflon® brand.
The FDA has determined that non-stick coatings are acceptable for conventional kitchen use. Also, in 2003 the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission rejected a petition to require a label warning for non-stick coatings. Cookware coated with Teflon® has been safely used for more than 40 years.
7. Soil, stain and grease repellants are made from fluorotelomers, not PFOA.
Fluorotelomer products are not made with, nor do they use, PFOA in the manufacturing process. PFOA is an unintended byproduct created during the manufacture of fluorotelomers and is present at trace levels in some of these products. Studies show that the use of consumer articles based on fluorotelomers would not result in any detectable exposure to PFOA. DuPont has committed to the EPA to virtually eliminate trace quantities of PFOA in our soil, stain and grease repellant products.
The following links are provided for additional information:
1) EPA News Release on 2010/15 PFOA Stewardship Program
http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/177f410e8a398c0f85257021005643a7/fd1cb3a075697aa485257101006afbb9!OpenDocument
2) DuPont News Release
http://www2.dupont.com/Media_Center/en_US/news_releases/2006/article20060125d.html
3) Teflon® Website
http://teflon.com/NASApp/Teflon/TeflonPageServlet?pageId=/consumer/na/eng/news/news_detail.safetyconcerns.html
4) EPA and FDA Statements
http://www.epa.gov/oppt/pfoa/pfoafcts.pdf
http://www2.dupont.com/PFOA/en_US/pdf/FDAlettertoEWG_122005.pdf
5) DuPont Statement on Health Effects
http://www2.dupont.com/PFOA/en_US/about_pfoa/pfoa_health_effects.html
1/27/06
