DuPont's decades-long concealment of PFOA contamination from Teflon production, documented in internal memos and legal settlements beginning in the 1970s.
DuPont manufactured Teflon (polytetrafluoroethylene) using PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid), a chemical that accumulated in worker bloodstreams and contaminated groundwater near production facilities. Internal DuPont memos from the 1970s showed the company possessed knowledge of PFOA's persistence and potential health effects but did not publicly disclose findings. Workers at DuPont's Washington Works plant in Parkersburg, West Virginia reported health issues, and independent testing in 2001 revealed PFOA in local drinking water supplies.
The contamination became a major legal case when DuPont settled a class-action lawsuit with Parkersburg residents in 2005 for 70 million dollars, though the company denied wrongdoing. The CDC later found PFOA in the blood serum of 97 percent of Americans tested. DuPont continued selling Teflon-coated cookware globally during this period. This case is frequently cited as documentation of corporate knowledge of environmental contamination combined with delayed disclosure, resulting in widespread population exposure to persistent chemicals.
