Chemistry

Star Tribune Thu, 06 Mar 2008 05:33:28 GMT
Study: Death rate up for 3M workers exposed to PFOA

The study examined death records among the 4,000 workers at the Cottage Grove plant from 1943 to 1997. Workers who were exposed to a chemical called PFOA at 3M's factory in Cottage Grove died of stroke and prostate cancer at higher rates than other workers at the plant, according to a new industry-funded study. The study of nearly 4,000 people who worked at the plant from 1943 to 1997 found elevated stroke and prostate cancer death rates among those exposed to the chemical, which was used until 2000 for nonstick coatings and other products. Workers with the highest exposures were twice as likely to die of prostate cancer and stroke than colleagues with little or no exposure to the chemical, the study found. The death rates from those diseases among all workers at that plant were similar to those of the general population, leading 3M officials to call the difference a statistical anomaly. "Nothing in this study changes our conclusion that there are no adverse health effects from PFOA," 3M spokesman Bill Nelson said Wednesday.

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