Earlier this month, the Environmental Working Group released findings of an investigation into the toxicity of food packaging chemicals after DuPont and other chemical companies promised to phase out PFOA, a “human carcinogen” commonly used to make Teflon. According to the investigation, the group found that there was almost no data publicly available on the health risks of new chemicals being used.
“Calling these replacement chemicals ‘green’ is like saying you’re safer driving a car at 150 miles an hour instead of 200,” said Olga Naidenko, PhD, an EWG senior scientist. “Just like the chemicals they’re replacing, these new compounds are extraordinarily persistent in the environment, they are already found in people’s blood and they cross the placenta to contaminate babies before birth.”
DuPont and seven other companies agreed in 2006 to phase out PFOA by 2015. The EWG’s report, titled “How Green is DuPont’s Replacement for Teflon Chemical?”, can be reviewed here.