New York, NY, March 3, 2006--Environmental regulators said they received full compliance from eight companies asked to eliminate releases of a potentially hazardous compound used in nonstick cookware.
In January the Environmental Protection Agency, under what it calls a global stewardship program, asked producers of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) to slash emission and product levels of the compound by 95 percent by 2010, based on 2000 levels, and to eliminate it entirely by 2015.
The compound is used to make a wide range of nonstick and stain-resistant surfaces and products such as Teflon.
The eight companies are Arke, Asai, Ciba Specialty Chemicals Holdings Inc., Clariant AG, Daikin Industries Ltd., DuPont, 3M Co., and Solvay Solexis.
The EPA said the companies have been asked to submit baseline figures for 2000 to the agency by Oct. 31, with annual public reports on their progress due each successive October.
PFOA has long been the subject of controversy.
Last month, DuPont agreed to pay $16.5 million to settle with the EPA over reporting data about the compound.
Last year, DuPont agreed to pay $85 million to residents in Ohio and West Virginia to settle a lawsuit over the release of PFOA into the water supply at a plant in West Virginia.
According to EPA, PFOA can remain in the human body for up to four years, and small amounts of the chemical are found in a large portion of the general public.
DuPont said its studies and those of independent researchers show that cookware and other consumer products made with DuPont materials are safe. In addition, it said, PFOA to date has had no known health effects on humans.
But tests by 3M, the original manufacturer of PFOA, have shown that high levels of exposure to the chemical may cause liver damage and reproductive problems in rats.
