PFOA AGAIN

Researchers found the chemical PFOA in 100 percent of newborns examined. This just makes me sick. Even newborn babies are not safe in their mother’s wombs from PFOA.

I have talked about some of this before, most notably on Jan. 29 and 31, 2006, as well as Feb. 6 and 13, 2006 (to which you can refer for background material.) PFOA is a chemical byproduct of Teflon. It is used in many packaging materials to prevent sticking, including microwave popcorn bags, storage bags for frozen french fries, pizza boxes, etc.

PFOA persists in the environment for a very long time. It is in virtually everyone’s body. And I do not believe it is a harmless chemical. And I am extremely dismayed that it is found in the blood of newborn babies. Don’t they deserve a chance to develop in an unpolluted environment? Is no one safe from pollution these days, not even unborn fetuses?

They’re presumably going to stop using PFOA by 2015. That’s great, but is it too little too late? The PFOA that is already here will continue to affect us for years to come. And apparently it will even affect those who are as yet unborn. There is no escaping it, and I also think there is no avoiding it because it is apparently ubiquitous. So the only thing we can do, it seems, is just hope it doesn’t kill us or cause anymore dreaded birth defects than we already have. I am not very optimistic.


PFOA, pollution, prenatal, babies, children, pregnancy, food, health, chemicals, environment, birth defects, Teflon, nonstick,