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  • Georgia: Union asks for testing of water

    A labor union’s independent sampling of drinking water in Dalton, Ga., found the presence of a carpet industry chemical EPA has labeled a likely carcinogen. Perfluoroctanoic acid, also called PFOA or C8, was found in six of seven tap water samples from locations including the city library, a gas station, a home and a residential […]

  • Georgia: Tests set for carpet chemical in Conasauga

    DALTON, Ga. — A University of Georgia scientist said studies will be conducted this summer on fish and mussels in the Conasauga River to test for a chemical an Environmental Protection Agency advisory board calls a “likely carcinogen.” Perfluoroctanoic acid, also called PFOA or C8, has been used by the floor covering industry to develop […]

  • Georgia: Sampling of drinking water to track emerging chemical

    DALTON, Ga. — Georgia plans to begin statewide sampling this year at drinking water intakes for perfluorooctanoic acid, according to a program manager of the Environmental Protection Division. The acid is labeled a “likely carcinogen” by a federal panel and is found in the Conasauga River. “We’re trying to be proactive,” said Jane Hendricks, program […]

  • California: Schwarzenegger Vetoes Bill to Ban Cancer-Causing Teflon Chemicals in Food Packaging

    SACRAMENTO – On the same day Gov. Schwarzenegger touted himself as the leader of a comprehensive chemical reform program, he vetoed a bill that would have made California the first state to ban toxic chemicals known as PFCs – a family of compounds including Teflon – from food packaging. On Monday, Schwarzenegger vetoed Senate Bill […]

  • EU: Scientific Opinion of PFOA and PFOS from the Panel on Contaminants in the Food chain

    Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and their salts Scientific Opinion of the Panel on Contaminants in the Food chain Summary Perfluoroalkylated substances (PFAS) is the collective name for a vast group of fluorinated compounds, including oligomers and polymers, which consist of neutral and anionic surface active compounds with high thermal, chemical and biological inertness. […]

  • Minnesota: What’s happened since 2005

    Since 2005, when attention was first given to the contamination from PFOS and PFOA, several major developments have occurred in the research and political arenas. Early 2005: Fardin Oliaei, the MPCA’s lead researcher on PFCs, warns two Health Department officials about preliminary tests that show high levels of PFBA in soil and water samples from […]

  • New Jersey: Teflon discovered in 9 wells in Deepwater, at 35x the standard alert level

    DEEPWATER, N.J. (AP) — DuPont says it has found chemical residues from a Teflon ingredient in groundwater near its Chambers Works plant. The traces of the chemical PFOA were found in nine wells around the plant in Deepwater, N.J. The concentrations ranged as high as 35 times the alert level established last year by New […]

  • Trout used as ‘lab rats’ in cancer study

    For 40 years, Oregon State University scientists have fought cancer with an unusual warrior: rainbow trout, a strain from Mount Shasta, Calif., to be specific. “They’ve definitely done their work in the war against cancer,” said Gail Orner, an assistant professor who often works with the Sinnhuber Aquatic Research Laboratory. OSU has 30,000 fish at […]

  • Credibility Gap: Are New Food Packaging Chemicals Any Safer?

    DuPont and other chemical companies have promised to phase out a cancer-causing chemical found in grease-resistant coatings for food packaging. But the new, supposedly green chemicals the industry is pushing as a replacement may be no safer. An investigation by Environmental Working Group (EWG) found there are almost no data publicly available on the health […]

  • Nonstick Toxicity: Chemical promotes cancer development in fish

    The experiments were fishy. But they appear to have uncovered something that rodent studies missed: a potential cancer risk posed by a compound used to manufacture nonstick coatings. By mimicking the action of estrogen, this chemical, perfluorooctanoic acid, can promote cancer development, researchers report in an upcoming Environmental Health Perspectives. Better known as PFOA, perfluorooctanoic […]