Posted on 07/22/2005 5:39:32 AM PDT by Mary_Anne_Mitchell
Teflon accusation doesn't stick Michael Fumento July 21, 2005
Two law firms filed a class action lawsuit Tuesday (July 19) on behalf of consumers regarding a chemical used to make Teflon called perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). The lawyers claim PFOA may be hazardous and want DuPont, Inc, the maker of Teflon, to pay $5 billion. If the suit pans out, whatever is left after attorneys’ fees would go to replace everyone’s cookware, impose a warning label on other Teflon products, and pay for medical monitoring and more research. "I don't have to prove that it causes cancer,” one of the slick attorneys told the Associated Press. “I only have to prove that DuPont lied in a massive attempt to continue selling their product." But the greasy lawyers’ charges against Teflon just don’t stick...
for the rest go to - http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GuestColumns/Fumento20050721.shtml
Another lawyer suing without solid science behind him.
uh...unless things have changed recently I do think you still have to prove that a crime has been committed.
Nope... The lawyers have proved all you have to do is pick the correct (ie: stupid) jury.
Concerning teflon my logic tells me this. I own exotic birds. Anyone who owns any kind of bird will know this same fact that use of teflon cookware CAN kill thier birds. Overheated cookware coated in teflon WILL kill them. One of the first things bird owners learn about proper caring for these animals is to stop using teflon coated cookware.
In coal mines, birds are or were used for thier sensitivity to gases, particularly methane, to detect anything present in the mine. Basically, bird drops dead, gas is present. If we can trust birds to clue in and keep our coalminers safe using the birds sensitivity, and we KNOW that teflon kills them, nobody will ever be able to tell me that teflon is completely safe for humans.
Sadly, that's not how it works. You simply have to convince a jury that the substance is hazardous to one's health and then bring up a few witnesses to provide anecdotal statements and you have bankrupted a company. Even if the science is on the side of the company, juries can rule whatever way they want. Silicone breast implants are the prime example.
You are quite correct and as an owner of exotic birds I am aware of this fact. However, birds have more primitive livers and cannot break down fluorinated materials as easily as mammilian livers can. And it is not the teflon itself that is dangerous. It is a non-volatile polymer. It is the decomposition products that are toxic. You have to heat the teflon well above the temperatures you use in cooking (i.e. burner on high with nothing in the pan, for example). It is analagous to fire retardents in fabrics. These materials, like teflon, are halogenated and raise the ignition temperature of the material so the materials are harder to burn. However, when they do burn the smoke is very toxic.
Heck -- I'm waiting to cash in on the bottled water class action suit. I've been drinking it for years while, at the same time, I have aged! Yes, there is a direct corrolation there and I want my compensation! Bottled water causes aging! Warn your friends!!
Lawyers are living proof that homosexual relations beget children.
You have to prove it to a 7 of 12 people who were too stupid to get out of jury duty.
Ya had to go and get all technical didn't ya. (Laugh) There is new recent controversy however that is now saying that teflon does not have to be overheated but simply normal heating for it to be toxic to birds.
Well, I am a research chemist so I guess I forgot to take off my lab coat when I wrote that :)
I'm interested to hear the studies pointing to avian toxicity from normal use of Teflon. I can't see there being acute toxicity (i.e. immediate poisoning) or there'd be a lot more cases reported, but I can imagine a scenario from a chronic toxicity where the fluorinated materials accumulate in birds.
Your logic is, uh, interesting.
“Any type of cookware, not just non-stick, can be dangerous to your pet birds if food is left to burn in pots and pans,” notes University of Pennsylvania veterinarian Karen Rosenthal. “Long before non-stick material presents a concern, fats, oils and butter will begin to smoke in a pan at 400-degrees Fahrenheit and can produce gases harmful to birds. This temperature is well below the point at which non-stick cookware could release fumes.”For reasons having nothing to do with PFOA, Teflon can hurt birds if a pan is extremely overheated. In fact, fumes from any type of cookware, not just non-stick, cause avian angst if you leave a pot burning on the stove. Because they have highly sensitive lungs, birds are also at risk from burning butters or oils, aerosol sprays, and cleaning solvents.
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