Green group levels new claim against DuPont

The Environmental Working Group is accusing DuPont Co. of withholding more fluoropolymer-related health data from the government, but the company disputes the charge. Washington-based EWG said Nov. 17 that the company failed to report evidence showing that neighbors of DuPont’s plant in Parkersburg, W.Va., have several times the perfluorooctanoic acid in their blood that the general public has.

The Environmental Protection Agency formally charged DuPont in July with withholding other data about PFOA exposure, after EWG filed a formal complaint. A trial is expected to begin in December.

DuPont called EWG’s charge “irresponsible and alarmist.” The company said the study EWG is referencing is not a communitywide study, but rather an analysis of the blood of 12 plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit.

DuPont said the PFOA levels in those 12 people are below occupational exposure levels, which the company said is not hazardous. A communitywide study is to begin next year.