The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) draft risk assessment released January 12, 2005 (available at http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/pfoa/pubs/pfoarisk.pdf) provides added assurance to the public regarding the safety of PFOA.

EPA's draft risk assessment used a margin of exposure (MOE) approach, sometimes referred to as a margin of safety. Under this methodology, higher MOE values represent lower levels of risk. The values in EPA's report - ranging from 398 to greater than 10,000 - represent substantial protection of the general population.

Member companies of The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc. (SPI) have conducted extensive research on the safety of PFOA. Much of this research is cited in the EPA draft risk assessment.

The draft risk assessment will now be submitted to EPA's Science Advisory Board (SAB). SPI member companies will provide input to the SAB process. EPA will then finalize the risk assessment based on public and SAB comments.

Consumer Safety

Click the link above to further explore this topic.

Occupational Safety

Click the link above to further explore this topic.