Another Reason to Eat at Home! MUAH...Love Ya' Dupont! You Suck So Bad! How Do You People Sleep at Night?

Need another reason to eat at home and steer clear of fast food?  Well listen up!  You might remember that I am not a fan of PFOA.   I am not sure anyone is a fan of PFOA except Dupont (and other chemical companies) which uses and sells it to manufacture Teflon and make water and stain repellent products.  So now I have found yet another reason to ditch fast food but first let me just take a moment to send out a big kiss to my pals at Dupont...MUAH...Love Ya' Dupont! You Suck So Bad! How Do You People Sleep at Night?

Studies have shown the chemical PFOA to be present at low levels in the bloodstream of 9 out of 10 Americans, and in the blood of most newborns. PFOA has been shown to cause cancer, low birth weight and a suppressed immune system in laboratory animals exposed to high doses.  But wait, it gets worse, PFOA's are detrimental to our environmental health as well as human health.  Even the EPA has declared PFOA's to be likely carcinogens.  Now there is new research from the University of Toronto which has found the chemical is leeching out of fast food wrappers (still not clear on whether or not all food wrappers (think candy bars)contain PFOA)) and popcorn bags and into the food we are eating.  Yum yum!

 "This discovery is important," says Scott Mabury, the lead researcher and a professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Toronto, "because we would like to control human chemical exposure, but this is only possible if we understand the source of this exposure. In addition, some try to locate the blame for human exposure on environmental contamination that resulted from past chemical use rather than the chemicals that are currently in production."

In the 1980's,  workers in a Teflon plant claimed that their babies suffered from birth defects caused by Teflon.  In fact, in 2006, the EPA  asked 8 American companies (including Dupont) to phase out their use of PFOA's.  Dupont was heavily fined for hiding data on the toxicity of PFOA's and polluting the Ohio River drinking-water supply near its West Virginia plant.  Oh poor Dupont, fines and now they only have until 2015 to phase out their use of PFOA's.

Can you belive that?  These creeps are still allowed to sell a product that everyone knows is harmful for 5 more years.  This kind of big business at the expense of human and environmental health makes me sick to my stomach.  Am I alone?

What are we supposed to do as consumers to keep ourselves safe from PFOA?  First, stop using non-stick pans and use Man Pans, stainless steel pans or a pre-seasoned cast iron skillet instead.  Next, use this as another reason to eat at home and stay away from fast food restaurants and for goodness sake, don't eat microwave popcorn.  Until the restaurants either take it upon themselves (ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha) to use safer wrappers for their food or until 2015 when they are no longer allowed to use it, we need to do the best we can to keep ourselves and our families safe. 

P.S.- I am really glad that you stopped by our Environmental Booty Blog and I hope you have learned or shared a thing or two.  I hope that , now that you've found us,  you won't lose us!  You can join our green living online community, subscribe to our posts download our community toolbar, Tweet with me on Twitter or Come Shop with Me to stay in touch!  - Shane :)

No comments:

Post a Comment

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead