Editing Polytetrafluoroethylene (section)

=== 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>