Australia's industrial chemicals regulator, NICNAS, is urging manufacturers to stop using perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a chemical present in non-stick cookware, dyes, paints and fire-fighting foam, because of its toxic character.
Sneha Satya says a US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) study has shown that the chemical persists in living organisms and the environment, and is a developmental toxin.
The study that she heard about at an international workshop last year, showed that PFOA affects rat development over two generations, and prompted NICNAS to recommend that manufacturers phase out using the chemical.
"The industry should actively seek alternatives to PFOA and precursors that may degrade to PFOA and aim to phase out the use of these chemicals," ABC online quoted NICNAS as saying in a statement.
Dr Mariann Lloyd-Smith of the National Toxics Network has welcomed the recommendation.
"The research presented to the workshop by the US EPA sent a shock wave, I think, through most of the governments that were there," says Lloyd-Smith.
She said that after the workshop many non-governmental organisations, researchers, and some governments had concluded that PFOA should be regarded as a persistent organic pollutant under the Stockhold Convention.
Though pleased with such moves, she is concerned that developing countries could still use PFOA and export cookware made with it.
"Somebody should be testing products coming into Australia that they aren't heavily contaminated with PFOA," says Lloyd-Smith.
A US paper published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology recently said that PFOA could be released during normal heating of non-stick cookware and microwave popcorn bags.
NICNAS, however, says that it is safe to use non-stick cookware at normal cooking temperatures and advises consumers not to allow the cookware to overheat.
While it is monitoring the importation and use of PFOA in Australia, the regulator says that it is not its job to look at the end product.
