July 17, 2003 | A chemical associated with dozens of popular consumer products has proven to be surprisingly toxic and pervasive. In response, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is conducting the most extensive scientific review in the Agency's history to find out how this chemical has contaminated the blood of over 90% of Americans.
This chemical belongs to the family of "perfluorochemicals" (PFCs), many of which never break down in the environment. They are used in brand name consumer products such as Stainmaster, Scotchgard, Gore-Tex and Teflon.