Perfluorooctanoic acid
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Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is an artificial acid that has many industrial uses.
This chemical is most notably used in the making of Teflon®. It is also used in fire fighting foams under the name aqueous film forming foam (AFFF). Another application is in the fabrication of water and stain resistant clothes and other materials (including the products Scotchguard®, StainMaster®, and Gore-Tex®). Traces of PFOA-family chemicals can now be found in the blood of nearly all Americans and in the environment worldwide.
CHEMICAL STRUCTURE:
F F F F F F F OH | | | | | | | / F-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C=O | | | | | | | F F F F F F F
PFOA can designate the acid itself or its principal salts (like ammonium perfluorooctanoate or perfluorooctane sulfonate, (also called PFOS).
PFOA, also known as C8, is the most common building block of the entire family of perfluorocarbon (PFC) family of chemicals, widely used for their durability and stability as well as resistance to water, oil, and other solvents. This durability also prevents the compounds from breaking down once they are in the environment, leading to widespread buildup and bioaccumulation in foodchains around the world. Scientists do not yet know how the chemicals are transported or exactly how dangerous they are to humans, though concerns about these issues caused its major manufacturer, 3M, to cease manufacturing the chemical in May 2000. DuPont, one of the largest users of PFOA, then built its own plant to manufacture PFOA.
In 2004, DuPont came under investigation by the EPA for allegedly covering up knowledge of possible health effects of PFOA exsposure in a study of pregnant employees, including evidence of PFOA in umbilical cord blood. The alleged violation might have resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in fines, but in early 2005, in spite of evidence to the contrary, the EPA agreed with DuPont that nothing illegal had taken place. The chemicals are known to kill birds, and to cause various diseases in laboratory animals.
As to be expected, industry officials are minimizing any danger, while public watchdog groups are raising the alarm. The Environmmental Working Group says, in an online report titled "PFCs: A Family of Chemicals that Contaminate the Planet", that “PFCs seem destined to supplant DDT, PCBs, dioxin, and other chemicals as the most notorious, global chemical contaminants ever produced.”
Scientists, doctors, and the public span the gulf of opinions in between, and, with perfluorooctanoic acid circulating in their bloodstreams, continue as one of the largest biological experiments of the modern age.
External links
- [1] (http://www.stl-inc.com/analyticalservices/specialty%20services/pfoa.htm) Details of PFOA chemistry
- [2] (http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/pfoa/index.htm) - EPA page on PFOAs
- [3] (http://www.ewg.org/issues/PFCs/index.php) The Environmental Working Group, PFC page
- [4] (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002050937_teflon01.html) chemicals spread
- [5] (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30F1EFB38580C7B8CDDA10894DC404482&incamp=archive:search) DuPont in the frying pan