teflon is bad

i told you so :P
yesterday, "A group of scientific advisers to the Environmental Protection Agency voted unanimously Wednesday to approve a recommendation that a chemical used in the manufacture of Teflon and other nonstick and stain-resistant products should be considered a likely carcinogen." CNN teflon article

highlights:
• the chemical used is perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), also known as C-8
• specifically, the SAB board members are voting in consideration of carcinogenicity findings by a PFOA review panel. not all the panel members agree with the "likely carcinogen" classification, but dissent is probably limited to three or four people.
• there are several scientific studies on the carcinogenicity on PFOA and there is dissent among everyone involved regarding their reliability. in particular, the panel dismissed a DuPont and 3M-sponsored 2005 review giving "suggestive evidence" that PFOA is a carcinogen, saying "We do not feel that it rose to the same level of scrutiny as the other information we were considering". (they considered, in contrast, an unpublished but peer-reviewed 1980 study). a 3M scientist accuses the panel of making selective use of information.
• the board members have asked that the panel's report clarify why some studies were used and others weren't
• the EPA administrator Stephen Johnson (ONE PERSON?) can accept or reject the SAB's recommendation
• DuPont is the sole producer of PFOA in north america

so we'll see how it turns out. i haven't looked at the scientific studies, but my instinct is to not trust the ones ordered by the manufacturers. in a world where companies have been known to hide information declaring their products to be toxic, i would think that for every published report "safe" to the company, there are ten with more dangerous findings that we will never find out about. look what happened with asbestos. maybe i'm a cynic because i work on plaintiff litigation :) i know how you can select expert scientists who support the view more favorable to you. but the ewg also sent a cover letter to the EPA, discussing how they would disqualify DuPont's "scientific" studies and the carcinogenicity conclusion to which they came, and i don't believe there is much that DuPont can do to refute that letter's content. EWG letter to EPA concerning DuPont's response to EPA's inquiry of possible TSCA Section 8(e) substantial risk reporting violations