US chemical maker DuPont has reaffirmed to its global users that the non-stick Teflon-coated cookware is harmless to both humans and the environment. But this doesn't seem to be the end of the controversy over the use of a chemical in Teflon coating which it has been claimed may cause cancer.
 
US chemical giant, DuPont, has decided to reduce the emission of perfluorooctanoic acid, known as PFOA, by 99 percent as requested by the US Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA.

However, Xu Yang with Dupont's Beijing office insists the substance is used only during the production of Teflon products. She says the finished products do not contain the chemical.

"Our conflict with the EPA has nothing to do with the safety of Teflon non-stick cookware itself. PFOA is only a processing aid in Teflon production. But it is removed when the cookware is made. It doesn't exist in Teflon-coated cookware."

Despite the repeated DuPont clarification, the Guangdong-based Elecpro Electrical Appliance Company, which has been using the Teflon technology in the making of its non-stick products, refused to withdraw its claim for a 10-million-dollar compensation pay-out from DuPont. Elecpro market executive, Hao Yaohua, has expressed utter dissatisfaction.

"How come there is no PFOA in the cookware? It is an indispensable processing aid to the production of non-stick pans. It would surely remain in the finished product."

As early as in 1982, a US organization found substances that might cause cancer in 400 consumers who used Teflon-coated cookware. The US EPA alleged last month that DuPont repeatedly failed over a 20-year period to submit information the company had obtained regarding the PFOA.

The EPA is now seeking millions of dollars in fines from DuPont while conducting a probe to determine if the PFOA poses risks to human health or the environment. Meanwhile, China is conducting its own investigation and is expected to release the report in September.

(CRI August 16, 2004)