Perfluorinated Chemicals

Sometimes called "The Teflon Chemicals," FAN's Pesticide Project began tracking them in 2000 because of their use in several pesticides. Here we document the toxicity studies, government reports, class action suits, and newspaper accounts.

Reports, Studies, Statements


“The PFOS story is likely to emerge
as one of the apocryphal examples
of 20th century
experimentation

with widespread chemical exposures
: prolific use and almost no testing for safety,
until unexpectedly and almost serendipitously, it is discovered as a contaminant
virtually everywhere. And as is often the case in these stories, the company producing
PFOS products possessed information hinting at its risks but chose not to share their
data with regulators or the public for years…”
Ref: the web home for the authors of Our Stolen Future

“PFOS accumulates to a high degree
in humans and animals. It has an estimated
half-life of 4 years in humans
. It thus appears
to combine
persistence, bioaccumulation, and
toxicity properties to an extraordinary degree
.”

Ref: May 16, 2000. Phaseout of PFOS. Charles Auer, USEPA, Director,
Chemical Control Division Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT)

As more studies pour in, PFCs [perfluorinatred chemicals]
seem destined to supplant DDT, PCBs, dioxin and other chemicals
as the most notorious, global chemical contaminants ever produced.

Government scientists are especially concerned because unlike any other toxic chemicals,
the most pervasive and toxic members of the PFC family never degrade in the environment.
The U.S. EPA peremptorily forced one member of this family off the market in 2000: PFOS,
the active ingredient used for decades in the original formulation of 3M’s popular Scotchgard
stain and water repellent. Shortly thereafter, 3M also stopped manufacture of a related
perfluorochemical, called PFOA, that is now under intense regulatory pressure at EPA.
3M formerly sold PFOA to DuPont, which has used PFOA for half a century in the manufacture
of Teflon. (DuPont now makes the chemical itself at a new facility in North Carolina.)
Ref:
PFCs: a family of chemicals that contaminate the planet; online report from
the Environmental Working Group – see below under Resources.

U N D E R   C O N S T R U C T I O N :

Because FAN has this new website, the incredible amount of information we have available has not yet been transferred into our new Content Management System. Until it has, please use our older links below.

Reports, Studies, Selected Statements
http://www.fluoridealert.org/pesticides/pfos.reports.htm

Newspaper reports
* 2007 to current: Newspaper articles
• 2006: Newspaper articles and Documents
• 2005: Newspaper articles and Documents
• 2004: Newspaper articles and Documents
• 2003: Newspaper articles and Documents
• 2001 – 2002: Various related documents