Washington, DC, November 22, 2006--DuPont Co. on said it signed an agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency establishing a new screening level for a synthetic chemical found in drinking water sources around the company's Washington Works site in Washington, W.Va.
The consent order agreement updates a previous EPA screening level to 0.5 parts per billion for perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, in any public or private drinking water system around the site.
Under the order, Wilmington, Del.-based DuPont will offer alternative drinking water or treatment for public or private water users living near the Washington Works plant if the level of PFOA detected is equal to or greater than the new limit. The agreement also affects people in West Virginia and Ohio living near the plant.
PFOA is a synthetic chemical that is not regulated under federal environmental laws, but is widely used to make substances including Teflon. EPA lowered the screening level based on newer data from experimental animal studies and elevated blood serum levels of PFOA found in the population surrounding the plant, as compared to levels found in the general U.S. population.
The chemical is very persistent in the environment and is found at low levels in the blood of the general U.S. population. Studies suggest it can cause developmental and other adverse effects in laboratory animals, according to the EPA.
Last week, an independent panel charged with reviewing possible health effects of PFOA on Washington Works employees filed court papers saying it wanted to do its own study on workers at the plant. DuPont has done its own studies on death rates among workers and said the chemical has no definitive link to human disease.
The three-member panel, created as part of a 2005 court settlement between DuPont and residents of the Ohio River Valley who said the company contaminated their drinking water, wants to study the occurrence of disease, not just death, among workers.
David Boothe, global business manager for DuPont Fluoroproducts, on Tuesday said the company set aside $15 million after the settlement and will use those funds to pay for the alternative water supplies required in the EPA order.
EPA is conducting a risk assessment to help estimate the amount of PFOA that people can be exposed to without experiencing adverse health effects. Based on those results, EPA said it will take further action if necessary. DuPont said it supports and is participating in that process.
