WILMINGTON, Del. - DuPont announced on July 6 that it has shared new human health research data with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Science Advisory Board (SAB) on perfluorooctanoic acid or PFOA, an ingredient used to make Teflon® non-stick coatings. This new research addresses some of the major uncertainties identified by the SAB as it continues to consider its draft report to the EPA.

"Since humans, not laboratory animals, are the ultimate target for the PFOA risk assessment, this is important new information in the growing body of research on PFOA," said Dr. Robert Rickard, DuPont chief toxicologist.

The research includes part of a two-phase employee health study conducted by DuPont on PFOA exposure for more than 1,000 workers at DuPont's Washington Works facility located near Parkersburg, W.Va.

"Based on an evaluation of human health and toxicology studies and molecular biology research, DuPont believes that the weight of evidence indicates that PFOA exposure does not pose a risk to the general public," said Dr. Rickard. "To date, no human health effects are known to be caused by PFOA even in workers who have significantly higher exposure levels than the general population."