Dupont Faces Lawsuits Over Teflon Chemicals
The chemicals used by a West Virginia factory to make non-stick products are dangerous at levels the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had thought were safe, according to a federal study on PFAS chemicals. The study said the chemicals are dangerous at levels around 10 times lower than the EPA’s advised exposure of 70 parts per trillion. The DuPont Co., which used the chemicals to create non-stick products such as Teflon, now faces thousands of lawsuits from people living near its Parkersburg-area Washington Works plant who say their water was contaminated. The chemicals have been linked to cancer, immune effects and adverse developmental effects on fetuses during pregnancy.