Teflon Lies Stick to DuPont

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"On Jan. 11, 2005, DuPont publicists invited reporters to the company's Washington Works plant south of Parkersburg (W. Va.) for a major announcement," reports the Charleston Gazette. DuPont claimed that a new study proved "there are no known human health effects associated with exposure to PFOA," also known as C8, a chemical used in Teflon and other nonstick products. DuPont promoted the study "as having the seal of approval from ... independent experts from various universities, including John Hopkins and Yale." But those experts disagreed with DuPont's characterization of the study. Professor David Wegman emailed, "We were unanimous in believing that the results do show a health effect," pointing to "significantly elevated values" for cholesterol among workers with PFOA exposure. Wegman's email and other correspondence were recently made public as part of a lawsuit over PFOA pollution in Salem County, N.J. The independent scientists supposedly advising DuPont warned the company that "we question the basis of DuPont's public expression asserting that PFOA does not pose a risk to health."