Health Advisories Issued For Pfoa And Pfos

摘要

They have been widely used in chemical production since World War II and persist indefinitely in the environment. PFOA and PFOS are present in the blood of most Americans at median levels of 4 ng/mL and 21 ng/mL, respectively. However, the routes of exposure to the general population are unknown. They have also been reported in the blood of residents of other countries. In 2004, a class-action settlement was reached by DuPont Chemical with local residents living near DuPont's Washington Works facility south of Parkersburg, West Virginia. The residents alleged that the company had contaminated their drinking water supplies with PFOA for decades. As part of the court settlement, a multiyear effort was launched to assess PFOA's potential health effects, known as the C8 Health Project. In 2008, three status reports were issued (C8 Science Panel, 2008a; 2008b; 2008c) presenting preliminary results suggesting possible links between disease in the community and exposure to PFOA. A fourth status report was issued in January 2009 (C8 Science Panel, 2009).