February 17, 2017
DuPont has reached $671 million in toxic exposure personal injury settlement
Around 3,550 personal injury lawsuits have been settled in the area of the DuPont West Virginia plant for drinking water being contaminated. This settlement has been a long time coming since the suits were filed a whopping 16 years ago by the affected West Virginia residents.
The drinking water was contaminated by perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA or C8). This incident has been linked to six different diseases, including kidney cancers and testicular cancers, according to the New York Post.
PFOA or C8 is used to make Teflon products that use nonstick coatings and additives. The Teflon brand is owned by Chemours, a company that had spun off of DuPont. Both DuPont and Chemours deny any misconduct, but will split paying the $671 million settlement amount. Read more about this here.
Toxic chemical has been linked to causing cancer
Although Teflon itself is not directly suspected of causing cancer, PFOA or C8 studies have shown increased risk of testicular, thyroid, and kidney cancers. Different studies have even show increased risk of ovarian, prostate, and bladder cancers.
Long term effects of PFOA or C8 are not fully known. However, the chemical is alarming enough that the EPA began working with the manufacturers still using PFOA or C8 at the time in 2006 to eliminate their use of the chemical by 95% by the year 2010.
Read more about the chemical, its cancer studies, various agencies’ involvement with eliminating its usage by manufacturers, and more from The American Cancer Society.