DuPont must pay record $10.25m fine in Teflon case
By Michael Hawthorne, Chicago Tribune | December 15, 2005
CHICAGO -- DuPont will pay a record $10.25 million fine for failing to tell
the Environmental Protection Agency what the company knew about a chemical
used to make Teflon, including studies that found the substance in human
blood and say it should be considered ''extremely toxic."
Federal regulators hope the legal settlement will help solve an
environmental mystery that has baffled researchers. Perfluorooctanoic acid,
or PFOA, is turning up throughout the world, from polar bears near the
Arctic Circle to toddlers in American cities. But scientists are not sure
why.
Until recently, very little has been known about PFOA and related chemicals
outside of DuPont and a handful of other companies, even though the
chemicals have been used for more than 50 years to make nonstick cookware
and hundreds of other products.
The EPA's settlement with DuPont, announced yesterday, involves a series of
company studies the government says should have been disclosed under federal
law.
Regulators have learned from industry research that the chemical builds up
in blood and takes years to leave the body.