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June 30, 2005

Compound in Teflon A 'Likely Carcinogen'

Topics: Health Issues

It just might be time to through away that well used teflon pan with 'only a few' scratches.

The Environmental Protection Agency's own scientific advisory panel has identified perfluorooctanoic acid, a chemical compound used to make Teflon, as a "likely carcinogen" in a report it plans to submit to the agency next month.

The draft report, which EPA posted on its Web site yesterday, is significant because it could prompt agency officials to regulate the processing agent -- known as PFOA or C-8 -- for the first time. Until now, the EPA has classified PFOA as a "suggested" carcinogen, which requires fewer health precautions.

(...) The scientific advisory panel, whose 17 members will discuss the draft assessment on July 6 before forwarding it to the agency, does not draw conclusions on whether using products made with PFOA, such as nonstick pans, poses a cancer risk. Instead, it says that the fact that animal studies have identified four different kinds of tumors in both male and female rats and mice that had been exposed to the compound convinced a majority of its members that it is a likely carcinogen.

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Related readings:
Might chemical in Teflon pose health risk?

Posted by Hyscience at June 30, 2005 11:53 PM

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