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8315210 
Journal Article 
Magazine 
TEFLON'S TOXIC LEGACY 
Kelly, S 
2016 
Earth Island Institute 
San Francisco 
Earth Island Journal 
30 
4 
18-26 
English 
Teflon was created, as many miracle chemicals were, in a laboratory accident. In 1938, Roy J. Plunkett, a DuPont chemist, was experimenting with refrigerants when he discovered a white waxy material that seemed very slippery. The material turned out to be an inert fluorocarbon -- Polytetrafluomethylene (PTFE) -- that had superior nonstick properties. In 1945, the company patented the chemical and registered it under the trademark "Teflon," touting it as the most slippery material in existence. By 1948 DuPont was producing about 2 million pounds of Teflon a year at its Washington Works plant in Parkersburg, West Virginia. For DuPont, Teflon, which was used to coat pots and pans, proved to be a gold mine, with sales peaking at roughly a billion dollars a year in 2004, according to the company's SEC filings. Concerns about the hazards posed by Teflon and C8 began to garner public attention only about 15 years ago. 
Environmental Studies; Chemical industry; Litigation; Chemicals; Factories; Reforms; Laboratories; Kidney cancer; West Virginia; United States--US