Steelworkers, Sierra Club Sue to Protect Consumers from Cancer-Causing Chemical
28th November 2007
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The United Steelworkers (USW), the Sierra Club and several other labor and environmental groups are going to court to force California to protect residents from a "likely" cancer-causing chemical used in the manufacture of Teflon.
The chemical, known as PFOA, is used by DuPont in making nonstick and stain-resistant coatings for products from pots and pans to carpets and clothes. It has been found to be a "likely" carcinogen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The groups filed suit last week after the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment failed to consider adding PFOA to a list of cancer-causing chemicals that fall under strict exposure and discharge regulations.
Under Proposition 65—approved by California voters in 1986—the governor-appointed Carcinogen Identification Committee (CIC) must annually update the list of cancer-causing chemicals. The union and environmental groups had petitioned the health hazard assessment agency to expedite consideration of the DuPont chemical, but the agency refused.