Dupont Pledges to Cut Back on Controversial Chemical

The makers of the non-stick coating Teflon say they’re going to reduce the amount of a chemical that’s causing health concerns. The chemical is used in the manufacturing process. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Fred Kight
reports:

Transcript

The makers of the non-stick coating Teflon say they’re going to reduce the amount of a
chemical that’s causing health concerns. The chemical is used in the manufacturing
process. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Fred Kight reports:


The DuPont Company says the output of the chemical known as C8 will be cut by 90
percent by the end of next year. The chemical giant had agreed to the action in a deal
with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which is studying whether C8 poses
health risks to humans.


DuPont continues to argue that C8 is not harmful.


Just a few weeks ago, a judge okayed the settlement of a class action lawsuit in which the
company consented to pay at least 107 million dollars to resolve contamination claims by
residents living near one of its plants in West Virginia.


A local water district official welcomes the C8 cut but says he wishes they had done it 20
years ago. And an official with the organization Environmental Working Group
complains the plan did not go far enough and would not eliminate exposure
to the chemical.


For the GLRC, I’m Fred Kight.

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