"C8 isn't just in Teflon, it's in paints, fabrics, raincoats, boots. C-8 stays in our bodies forever, and our bodies have no way of degrading them."
"C8 is everywhere, there is no clean place in this world."
"PFOA is present in all blood on Earth, including 99 percent of humans."
"You can make a billion dollars a year with Teflon alone."
"Everyone knows more than the EPA, which is why the EPA lets us monitor ourselves."
"The EPA didn't start regulating chemicals until 1976, and unless they knew something was harmful or a company told them, they wouldn't count it as harmful."
"The EPA really didn't have a standard for C8, but DuPont did. According to the law, to win such a lawsuit, you only need to prove that DuPont caused more pollution than the company thought it was safe. That's self-regulation."
Teflon® is a trademark registered by DuPont, which is another name for Polytetrafluoroethylene, and the English abbreviation is PTFE. In China, it is transliterated as Teflon. The material made of it can be decomposed at 300 °C, hydrolyzed at 400 °C, resistant to acid, alkali and various solvents, and cannot even dissolve aqua regia. Products of this material are generally referred to as "non-stick coatings" and are widely used. in various fields.
The man-made chemical PFOA (DuPont renamed it C8) is ammonium perfluorooctanoate, a synthetic carbon chain fluoride that is an aid in the manufacture of Teflon. C8 is highly toxic, can cause cancer, and can cause defects in children born to mothers.
The non-stick pan coating uses PTFE (Teflon) dispersion emulsion. Because the molecular structure of PTFE is agglomeration of macromolecules, it is necessary to add stabilizing additives to make PTFE stably and evenly dispersed in the emulsion. Previously, manufacturers generally used PFOA or PFOS is used as an adjuvant, but PFOA and PFOS are class 2B carcinogens. Now European and American countries prohibit the import of fluoropolymers containing PFOA and PFOS, and foreign companies that produce PTFE do not use such carcinogens as adjuvants.
In the film, DuPont, the world's largest chemical company, has the slogan that chemistry improves life, in order to make people live easier, happier and longer. Behind the scenes, they are doing wicked things for huge profits. In 1962, DuPont knew about the dangers of C-8 a year after producing Teflon because a production worker fell ill. But for four decades, toxic C8 has been released into the air and water, as well as buried in the soil, for huge profits. DuPont, which makes a billion dollars a year from Teflon production, faced a fine of only $16.5 million from the EPA after it was revealed.
After 7 years of epidemiological investigations by an independent scientific research team, it has been concluded that 6 major diseases are associated with continuous exposure to C8. The health status of residents in the area will be continuously monitored, and patients will be compensated. But DuPont broke the contract, and they had to sue them for every compensation. The male protagonist, Robert Bilott, as a lawyer in a series of 3,535 claims, sued DuPont, and the company finally compensated 670 million.
Has technology really made life better? It feels that since the industrial revolution, the rate of destruction of the earth is getting faster and faster, and human beings will definitely be backlashed, and this backlash has already begun. Sustainable development is a long way to go.
View more about Dark Waters reviews
