gloBAleRt #1 - Teflon Ingredient's Health Risk

U.S. federal officials are accusing DuPont of hiding information suggesting that a chemical used to make the popular stick- and stain-resistant coating might cause cancer, birth defects and other ailments. Environmental regulators are particularly alarmed because scientists are finding perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in the blood of people worldwide and it takes years for the chemical to leave the body. It is said that exposure even to low levels of PFOA could be harmful. DuPont scientists started warning company executives to avoid human contact with PFOA as early as 1961. Industry tests later determined the chemical accumulates in the body, doesn't break down in the environment and causes ailments in animals, including cancer, liver damage and birth defects. DuPont is also said to have failed to notify the relevant U.S. government agency when two of five babies born to plant employees in 1981 had eye and face defects similar to those found in newborn rats exposed to PFOA.

Read more about it in this article: ENN: Environmental News Network