Editing Polytetrafluoroethylene (section)

== Ecotoxicity ==
===Living Building Challenge===
PTFE was added to the [[Red List building materials|Living Building Challenge (LBC) Red List]] in 2016. The Red List bans substances prevalent in the building industry that pose serious risks to human health and the environment from construction that seeks to meet the criteria of the Living Building Challenge (LBC).<ref>{{cite web |title=LBC Red List CASRN Guide 2024 |url=https://living-future.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/LBC-Red-List-CASRN-Guide-2024.xlsx |publisher=International Living Future Institute |access-date=5 November 2024}}</ref>

=== Trifluoroacetate ===
[[Sodium trifluoroacetate]] and the similar compound [[sodium chlorodifluoroacetate]] can both be generated when PTFE undergoes [[Thermal decomposition|thermolysis]], as well as producing longer chain polyfluoro- and/or polychlorofluoro- (C3-C14) carboxylic acids which may be equally persistent. These products can accumulate in evaporative [[wetland]]s and have been found in the roots and seeds of wetland plant species, but has not been observed to have an adverse impact on plant health or germination success.<ref name=hsdb>{{cite web |title=Teflon |work=Hazardous Substances Data Bank |url=https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/source/hsdb/833 |publisher=National Center for Biotechnology Information National Library of Medicine }}</ref>

=== PFOA ===
{{Main|Perfluorooctanoic acid}}
Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA, or C8) has been used as a [[surfactant]] in the [[emulsion polymerization]] of PTFE, although several manufacturers have entirely discontinued its use.

PFOA persists indefinitely in the environment.<ref>{{cite report|date = March 2014|title = Emerging Contaminants Fact Sheet &ndash; Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS) and Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) |url = https://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyPURL.cgi?Dockey=P100LTG6.txt|website = National Service Center for Environmental Publications|publisher = [[United States Environmental Protection Agency]] |id = 505-F-14-001 |access-date = 10 February 2019|page = 1}}</ref> PFOA has been detected in the blood of many individuals of the general US population in the low and sub-[[parts per billion]] range, and levels are higher in chemical plant employees and surrounding subpopulations. PFOA and [[perfluorooctanesulfonic acid]] (PFOS) have been estimated to be in every American person's blood stream in the parts per billion range, though those concentrations have decreased by 70% for PFOA and 84% for PFOS between 1999 and 2014, which coincides with the end of the production and phase out of PFOA and PFOS in the US.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://casaweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/National-PFAS-Receivers-Factsheet.pdf|title=PFAs Factsheet|website=Casaweb.org|access-date=5 March 2022}}</ref> The general population has been exposed to PFOA through massive dumping of C8 waste into the ocean and near the [[Ohio River]] Valley.<ref name="NYTmagazine">{{cite news|last1=Rich|first1=Nathaniel |title= The Lawyer Who Became Dupont's Worst Nightmare|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/10/magazine/the-lawyer-who-became-duponts-worst-nightmare.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=6 January 2016 |access-date=7 January 2016 |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name=Blake>{{cite web|last1=Blake|first1=Mariah|title=Welcome to Beautiful Parkersburg, West Virginia Home to one of the most brazen, deadly corporate gambits in U.S. history.|url=http://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/welcome-to-beautiful-parkersburg/|website=HuffPost|access-date=31 August 2015}}</ref><ref name="Fellner-16June2018">{{cite news |last1=Fellner |first1=Carrie |title=Toxic Secrets: Professor 'bragged about burying bad science' on 3M chemicals |url=https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/health-and-wellness/toxic-secrets-professor-bragged-about-burying-bad-science-on-3m-chemicals-20180615-p4zlsc.html |access-date=25 June 2018 |work=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]|date=16 June 2018}}</ref> PFOA has been detected in industrial waste, stain-resistant carpets, carpet cleaning liquids, [[house dust]], [[Popcorn bag|microwave popcorn bags]], water, food and PTFE cookware.

As a result of [[Perfluorooctanoic acid#Robert Bilott investigation|a class-action lawsuit and community settlement]] with [[DuPont]], three [[Epidemiology|epidemiologists]] conducted studies on the population of Parkersburg, WV surrounding the (former DuPont) Chemours Washington Works chemical plant that was exposed to PFOA at levels greater than in the general population. The studies concluded that there was an association between PFOA exposure and six health outcomes: [[kidney cancer]], [[testicular cancer]], [[ulcerative colitis]], [[thyroid disease]], [[hypercholesterolemia]] (high cholesterol), and [[gestational hypertension]] (pregnancy-induced high blood pressure).<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Nicole | first1 = W. | title = PFOA and Cancer in a Highly Exposed Community: New Findings from the C8 Science Panel | doi = 10.1289/ehp.121-A340 | journal = Environmental Health Perspectives | volume = 121 | issue = 11–12 | pages = A340 | year = 2013 | pmid = 24284021| pmc = 3855507}}</ref>

Overall, PTFE cookware is considered a minor exposure pathway to PFOA.<ref>{{cite journal 
|vauthors=Trudel D, Horowitz L, Wormuth M, Scheringer M, Cousins IT, Hungerbühler K | title=Estimating consumer exposure to PFOS and PFOA 
| journal=Risk Anal. 
| volume=28 |issue=2 |pages=251–69 |date=April 2008 
| pmid=18419647 |doi=10.1111/j.1539-6924.2008.01017.x| bibcode=2008RiskA..28..251T 
| s2cid=10777081 
}}</ref>

=== GenX ===
{{Main|GenX}}
As a result of the lawsuits concerning [[Perfluorooctanoic acid#Robert Bilott investigation|the PFOA class-action lawsuit]], DuPont began to use GenX, a similarly fluorinated compound, as a replacement for perfluorooctanoic acid in the manufacture of [[fluoropolymer]]s, such as Teflon-brand PTFE.<ref>{{cite web |title=Evaluation of substances used in the GenX technology by Chemours, Dordrecht |url=http://www.rivm.nl/dsresource?objectid=3186e480-7d66-4ded-ac59-acd2e804d3b5|date=2016-12-12 |last1=Beekman |first1=M. |last2=Zweers |first2=P. |display-authors=1|access-date=2017-07-23 |publisher=National Institute for Public Health and the Environment ([[RIVM]], The Netherlands)}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.epa.gov/pfas/basic-information-pfas#difference |title=What is the difference between PFOA, PFOS and GenX and other replacement PFAS? |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2018-02-18 |website=PFOA, PFOS and Other PFASs |publisher=EPA}}</ref> However, the EPA has classified GenX as more toxic than PFOA<ref name="genx-more-toxic" /> and it has proven to be a "regrettable substitute";<ref name="genx-regret">{{Cite journal |last=Ahearn |first=Ashley |date=2019-03-24 |title=A Regrettable Substitute: The Story of GenX |journal=Podcasts: The Researcher's Perspective |volume=2019 |issue=1 |doi=10.1289/EHP5134 |doi-access=free}}</ref> [[GenX#Health Effects|its effects may be equally harmful or even more detrimental]] than those of the chemical it was meant to replace.<ref name="genx-regret" /><ref name="epa-human-genx-toxicicty" />

The chemicals are manufactured by [[Chemours]], a corporate spin-off of DuPont, in [[Fayetteville, North Carolina]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://files.nc.gov/ncdeq/GenX/SAB/FAQ_updated_021518.pdf |title=GenX Frequently Asked Questions |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2018-02-15 |website=GenX Investigation |publisher=North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) |location=Raleigh, NC}}</ref> Fayetteville Works was the site where DuPont began manufacture of PFOA after the lawsuit in Parkersburg WV halted their production there. When EPA asked companies to voluntarily phase out PFOA production, it was replaced by GenX in Fayetteville Works. In June of 2017, The Wilmington Star-News broke the story<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.starnewsonline.com/story/news/environment/2017/06/07/toxin-taints-cfpua-drinking-water/20684831007/ | title=Toxin taints CFPUA drinking water }}</ref> that GenX was found in the Cape Fear River – the drinking water supply for 500,000 people. The source of the pollution was determined to be the Fayetteville Works site, which had been run by DuPont since its founding in 1971 and then managed by DuPont spinoff, The Chemours Company, since 2015.  The water utility confirmed they had no ability to filter these chemicals from the drinking water. 

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NC DEQ) records<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.deq.nc.gov/genx/fact-sheet-chemours-proposed-consent-order/download | title=FACT SHEET: Proposed Chemours Consent Order | date=21 December 2018 }}</ref> indicate that DuPont started release PFAS into the area beginning in 1976 with the production of Nafion, and that PFAS including GenX had been released as a byproduct of the production of Vinyl Ethers since 1980, exposing the Cape Fear Basin for decades. A small nonprofit called Cape Fear River Watch sued NC DEQ for not taking swifter and stronger action, and sued the polluter, Chemours, for violations of the Clean Water Act and the Toxic Substances Control Act. The result was a Consent Order,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.deq.nc.gov/news/key-issues/genx-investigation/chemours-consent-order | title=Chemours Consent Order &#124; NC DEQ }}</ref> signed February 25, 2019 by Cape Fear River Watch, NC DEQ, and Chemours.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://capefearriverwatch.org/genx/ | title=PFAS &#124; Cape Fear River Watch | date=20 September 2019 }}</ref> The order has required Chemours to stop wastewater discharge, air emissions, groundwater discharge, sampling and filtration options to well users, and required sampling that proved there were upwards of 300 distinct PFAS compounds being released from Fayetteville Works.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.chemours.com/en/about-chemours/global-reach/fayetteville-works/compliance-testing | title=Consent Order Compliance }}</ref>