Duped by DuPont

DuPont has recently reached a $16.5 million settlement with EPA over the company's failure to report possible health risks associated with PFOA, perfluorooctanoic acid, a key processing agent in making nonstick and stain-resistant materials, which has been linked to cancer and birth defects in animals and is in the blood of 95 percent of Americans, including pregnant women.

PFOA can be found in a wide variety of everyday products, including pizza boxes, nonstick pans and microwave-popcorn bags. So even if you think you’re safe because you don’t use non-stick pans, think again because this agent is fairly well widespread. It has even been found in the blood of marine organisms and Arctic polar bears. Someone must be feeding either popcorn or pizza to those bears and should be stopped.

Although other companies such as 3M, Ciba, and Clariant Corp. agreed to reduce public exposure to the chemical, DuPont, which settled a class-action suit last year accusing it of contaminating drinking water in Ohio and West Virginia communities near its plant in Parkersburg, W.Va., has attracted the most public scrutiny over its PFOA use.

Isn’t it ironic that DuPont, who on one hand sells a safety program called STOP as a way of reducing and eliminating industrial accidents is also contaminating not only drinking water but also our bodies with potential carcinogens?

Here’s what DuPont states on its web site;

The DuPont Safety & Protection platform is focused on finding solutions to protect people, property, operations and the environment. DuPont delivers science-based solutions that make a difference in people’s lives in food and nutrition, health care, protective apparel, home and construction and environmental solutions.

How are they finding solutions to protect people?
They are making a difference in people’s lives in food and nutrition – they are exposing them to harmful agents.

Someone at DuPont should revisit this statement because it smells of the utmost form of hypocrisy.

I just hope and pray that the US Postal Service has come to its senses and stopped subscribing to DuPont’s safety program called STOP. The millions spent on this program in the past did very little to change a culture where management doesn’t walk the walk. STOP was just another pollutant to the already polluted air that’s constantly spewed out by corporate America.