Berghoff Cookware Set

Non-stick surface is one of DuPont's most popular products, used in everything from cookware to car parts, clothing, and flooring. Concentrations of a chemical used to make Teflon, ammonium perfluorooctanoate, also called C8, have been found in six public water districts and in private wells near DuPont's Washington Works plant. Residents filed a lawsuit in 2001, alleging that DuPont withheld and misrepresented information about the nature and extent of the health threat C8 poses to humans through drinking water. Under the terms of the settlement, DuPont agreed to allocate about $70 million for lab work and payments to residents. A chemical used to make Teflon, Gore-Tex and stain-resistant coatings is more likely to cause cancer than the government has previously acknowledged, according to a scientific panel.

PFOA, or perfluorooctanoic acid, is a "likely carcinogen" according to an advisory board to the Environmental Protection Agency. The science panel's pronouncement is the first step in a process that could result in the agency regulating or even banning some uses of the popular manufacturing agent.

The independent science board disagrees with a risk assessment of PFOA that the EPA drafted and released earlier this year in which the chemical was described as a "suggested" carcinogen.

Board members reviewing that report found PFOA to be of greater concern and advised the agency to conduct cancer-risk assessments on liver, breast, testicular and pancreas tumors in exposed animals.

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