MOsanthrope

Posted by Chris on January 26, 2006 at 9:59 am.

Thank you, DuPont, for providing our horrifying fact of the day:

From the AP:

DOVER, Del. - The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday asked DuPont and seven other chemical companies to work to eliminate use of a chemical that is a key ingredient in the production of Teflon but may pose potential health risks to humans.

* * *

The EPA is awaiting a final decision from a science advisory board reviewing a draft risk assessment of PFOA. A majority of board members concluded in a draft report that the chemical is “likely” to be carcinogenic to humans.

* * *

DuPont agreed last month to pay $10.25 million in fines and $6.25 million for environmental projects to settle allegations by the EPA that the company hid information about the health risks of PFOA. As part of the settlement, DuPont agreed to pay $5 million for a study examining the potential of nine DuPont fluorotelomer-based products to breakdown to form PFOA, which can be found in the blood of most Americans.

Wow. That last part just sneaked right up on you, didn’t it? It’s right there in paragraph fourteen of the article.

It’s nice that the United States Environmental Protection Agency is on the job and asking companies like DuPont to work to stop poisoning the planet. I’d imagine the meeting went something like this:

EPA: Please stop killing everybody. Please oh please oh please?

DuPont: Oh, all right. We’ll think about it.

EPA: Thank you! Have a nice day. May I offer you a cup of coffee before you go?

The article contains some scary stuff, but I enjoy the AP’s writing style. Here’s an excerpt from tomorrow’s lead, “Refurbished NASA Conference Room Gets High Marks:”

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Visitors to NASA’s Washington facility were in for a big surprise on Tuesday, when the administration unveiled its stunning new conference room. The newly refurbished room, located in the west wing on the top floor of NASA’s Washington headquarters facility, is equipped with a large mahogany conference table, black leather chairs and a variety of eye-catching window coverings.

* * *
“We really like the fact that the designers chose Italian leather for the chairs,” said Jones, “it’s both attractive and comfortable.” Later in the tour we had the opportunity to visit the facility’s new press room, which was also recently redecorated. NASA representatives plan to debut the new press room on Wednesday when the administration hosts a press conference to discuss the massive asteroid expected to collide with Earth sometime later this month.

Filed under: Humor, Health, Environment