We view the fluorocarbon issue as a serious one. We consider Fluorocarbon-based aftercare to be potentially hazardous, and in the interest of human health, should not be used by end-consumers for home-applied waterproofing. Our position is based upon scientific research that has shown that fluorocarbon water-repellents can break down to persistent chemicals, PFOA and similar, that are persistent in the food chain and in humans. More recent research has indicated that these chemicals are damaging to reproduction at extremely low levels.
Downloadable documents and PDF's:
- Why Nikwax Doesn't Use Fluorocarbons
By Nick Brown March 2005.
- Swedish Society for Nature Conservation Tests Waterproofing Products for Dangerous Fluorochemicals
Nikwax Press Release October 2007.
- Cord Serum Concentrations of PFOS & PFOA in Relation to Weight and Size at Birth
Authors from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, National Center for Environmental Health, et al.
- Perfluorinated Chemicals and Fetal Growth: A Study within the Danish National Birth Cohort
Authors from Dept. of Epidemiology, Univ. of California, International Epidemiology Institute, Vanderbilt Univ.,Institute of Public Health, Denmark
- Biodegradation Study Report
Contract Lab: Pace Analytical Services
Client: 3M Environmental Laboratories
- Proceedings of a Workshop on the Environmental Fate of Fluorotelomer-Based Polymers
Sponsored by: Canadian Environmental Modelling Network, Environment , DuPont
- Investigation of Perfluorochemical (PFC) Contamination in Minnesota Phase One
Report to Senate Environment Committee
Sponsored by: Canadian Environmental Modelling Network, Environment , DuPont
- Second National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals
Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Interesting links:
Environmental Working Group
Swedish Society of Nature Conservation
EPA, DuPont Agree to Virtually Eliminate Perfluorinated Chemicals by 2015
Fluorocarbons and the related families have been nominated for addition to the Center For Disease Controls watch list of environmental hazards. This was published in the Federal Register in September of 2003. Look for the perfluoro prefix to find the exhaustive list of chemicals in this family that are suspect.
Fluorocarbon technology IS NOT NEW, nor is it cutting edge. Fluorocarbons have been used in stain resisting and water resisting applications for 50 years.
DuPont, a major and extremely powerful chemical company announces plans to reduce the use of certain Fluorocarbons in several production facilities. This appears to be a nod to the pressure applied by unions and environmental watch groups. There is only one reason to cease production of something that is profitable: because DuPont knows it is hazardous.
DuPont is the second manufacturer of this family of chemicals to reduce or cease production. 3M abandoned the wildly successful product Scotch Guard in 2000, citing environmental and human health concerns. Again, why abandon a profitable product? The only logical answer is because it is hazardous.
This family of Fluorocarbons DOES NOT BREAK DOWN. It persists in the environment and in human tissue FOREVER.
