We've polluted our planet with Teflon
- Thread starter ricflairjuniour
- Start date
It makes perfect sense. The first priority for companies is their own monetary profit, not the well-being of society. Historically, they have disregarded pollution and other negative consequences not directly linked to costs - euphemistically labeled as 'externalities'. They grudgingly change only when forced to by government legislation or public outcry.happygrump said:
When DuPont discovered a health risk from their product, they did the profitable thing. They hid the truth for as long as they could. Once the information leaked out, they fought as hard as they could, with the best lawyers they could hire. Read their attorney's own comments on the situation! For them, it is nothing more than a cost-benefit and risk analysis. The profit they can generate with their current practices versus the potential cost of a successful lawsuit. DuPont's Board of Directors fools? - you can only determine that in hindsight. So far, they are facing $300 million in fines and have agreed to pay $345 million in a lawsuit for chemical contamination. They generate $200 million EACH YEAR from production associated with said chemicals. They've been in business for over 50 years - you do the math.
It was a calculated risk, motivated by money. Not only can I see them "making that decision", I can see them repeating it even if given a do-over. I can see numerous other companies making the same decision. Philip Morris, WorldCom, Enron, etc. Are you going to claim that those companies never did anything wrong because they're smart enough to know better?
Total non-sequitor. But what would you expect from the Religious Right any way ?
In the 1950s Dupont published a booklet called The Anatomy of a Rumour where it summarized the research it had carried out regarding reported health problems. The company admitted that there had been isolated incidents of "polymer fume fever" (employees breathing in chemicals while engaged in manufacturing Teflon) which produced symptoms similar to those of influenza for a period of time but had no lasting effects. It also acknowledged at least one case ofa worker suffering "the shakes" after smoking cigarettes that might have been contaminated with Teflon dust. Scarrrryy !
The industry is unregulated though and there were no follow up publications from DuPont.
Let's see what comes out of this regulatory investigation.
In the 1950s Dupont published a booklet called The Anatomy of a Rumour where it summarized the research it had carried out regarding reported health problems. The company admitted that there had been isolated incidents of "polymer fume fever" (employees breathing in chemicals while engaged in manufacturing Teflon) which produced symptoms similar to those of influenza for a period of time but had no lasting effects. It also acknowledged at least one case ofa worker suffering "the shakes" after smoking cigarettes that might have been contaminated with Teflon dust. Scarrrryy !
The industry is unregulated though and there were no follow up publications from DuPont.
Let's see what comes out of this regulatory investigation.
WTF has that got to do with anything? Even if it was correct (which it's not), that certainly does make an opinion different from yours automatically wrong.ricflairjuniour said:
But I digress... (as does my friend ricflairjuniour, whose obvious attempt to change the focus of the argument from the topic at hand to something entirely different is failing miserably)...
Point is that there are hundreds, maybe thousands, of natural and not-quite-natural things in the atmosphere and in the earth and in the food we eat that have links to causing disease.
Do you smoke? Do you drive? Ever had a potato chip? Ever eaten a Big Mac? Spoonful of peanut butter? Had a pint of beer? Shoveled your sidewalk? Watched TV while lazing on the couch?
I know I have. I've also had to be hospitalized from time to time due to accidents (busted a leg once, then an arm). For one, I'm glad companies like DuPont make a heap of money because the employment they provide generates taxes which helped pay for my hospital expenses. And yours. And my schooling costs. And the roads we drive upon.
On second thought, let's chuck it all and go live in the bush somewhere.
What a slippery slope (pun intended). So what you're saying grump is that there are toxic and hazardous substances everywhere so why worry ? It's a fact of life. From that you derive let's not worry and let's let the polluters pollute as long as they create jobs in the end. Man, no wonder this planet is in the mess it's in with your way of thinking. Rightists such as yourself have been fanning the flames of the geopoliticalization of poverty and US Imperialism in the name of democracy on the backs of the underdeveloped world and the unorganized masses.
C'mon. There are many examples of companies continuing to make products that their own people knew were dangerous, from tobacco, to asbestos, to lead paint, to pharmaceuticals, and on and on. The first reaction is always to deny any problem exists. Hell, the tobacco companies kept it up for decades.happygrump said:
I always wondered about teflon from the beginniing, and made the decision never to use cookware made with it. Man-made chemical compounds that are near indestructible don't have a real good track record when ingested by people.
A while ago, I was looking for a source of Teflon grease. Imagine my surprise, when many of the articles were from bird-keepers, you know Budgies, Cockatiels etc.
Their advice was not to use any Teflon cooking products as they had been proven to be fatal to birds.
Remeber how they sent canaries down mineshafts? If there was any poisonous gas, the canary would keel over, letting miners know it was unsafe down there.
I stopped using my Teflon frypan immediately.
Their advice was not to use any Teflon cooking products as they had been proven to be fatal to birds.
Remeber how they sent canaries down mineshafts? If there was any poisonous gas, the canary would keel over, letting miners know it was unsafe down there.
I stopped using my Teflon frypan immediately.
ricflairjuniour said:
You are on the editorial staff of the Toronto Star aren't you ?
Even the EPA said there was no reason for consumers to stop using Teflon . Yes an indidual chemical , one of many ingrediants used to make teflon , may be toxic ....... and it is certainly not a good idea to spill it anywhere .....but can't you say that about any plastic ?
Perhaps you can clarify this a little bit for us . Budgie food cooked on a teflon coated frypan resulted in deaths which were quick enough to be associated with the cooking methodology ?clipper said:
Who cooks budgie food ?
I understand that cats are also fatal to budgies .....have you banned those from your house ?
Buddy, read the article and give your head a shake !. What the EPA said is that because the industry is unregulated the EPA doesn't have the scientific data it needs at this time to tell consumers to immediately stop using teflon products - but it is investigating, and has reason to believe a chemical in teflon is in fact harmful.train said:
"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reported last week that exposure even to low levels of PFOA could be harmful".
"But so many unresolved questions remain about PFOA that the agency is asking an outside panel of experts to assess the risks. "
"The fact that a chemical with those non-stick properties nonetheless accumulates in people was not expected," said Charles Auer, director of the EPA's Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics.
"Those documents also prompted the EPA's ongoing review of health risks, which could lead to rules that limit or phase out the use of PFOA."
"Drinking water data in possession of DuPont `reasonably supports the conclusion' that PFOA `presents a substantial risk of injury to health,'" the EPA wrote in an October filing."
"The findings concern EPA officials because rats flush the chemical out of their bodies within days, while PFOA stays in human blood for at least four years. "
Wait until the EPA gets on to NOLFET !
Health Canada is also studying the effects of chemicals found in Teflon. Results will be announced in the next few months.
I don't quite understand the point. Birds are not mammals (see BIO 101). Birds can eat strychnine (sp?). People can't.clipper said:
"What's good for the goose may not be good for, uh, people... or something like that..."
The whole world is chock-full of carcinogens... A beer, with its 700 parts per billion of formaldehyde and five parts per 100 of alcohol is a thousand times more hazardous than anything in the water. If you have beer on your breath, does that mean you have to warn everyone who comes within ten feet of you?
--- Bruce Ames, chairman of the department of biochemistry at the University of California at Berkeley.
See herehttp://odin.prohosting.com/~beality/peanutbutter.htm.
