Part6 Secret of PTFE Teflon
As Teflon became better known to consumers, rumors began to circulate that it was unsafe. Tales sprang up about how Teflon had caused the mysterious deaths of unidentified workers. In other versions users of nonstick cookware had suffered the flu or seizures after breathing Teflon fumes. Industrial safety bulletins and at least one medical journal warned readers of Teflon’s supposed dangers.
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| An assortment of industrial parts made from granular PTFE shows the material's versatility and the wide range of applications in which it can be used. |
Whenever one of these false reports came to Du Pont’s attention, the company demanded a published retraction. It also published a booklet called The Anatomy of a Rumor that summarized the results of research carried out at Du Pont and elsewhere. In addition, Du Pont tried to set the record straight by acknowledging whatever minor problems could be documented. The company admitted that there had been isolated incidents of “polymer fume fever,” which produced symptoms similar to those of influenza for a brief period but had no lasting effects. It also acknowledged at least one case of a worker suffering “the shakes” after smoking cigarettes that might have been contaminated with Teflon dust. In fact, as early as 1954 Du Pont had instructed its employees not to smoke or carry cigarettes with them while working with Teflon. However, no serious illnesses or injuries had ever been linked to Teflon.
When Teflon cookware was introduced, many national magazines printed articles about the new products. Most discussed the safety issue, and several mentioned the rumors, but none gave any credence to the gossip. Nevertheless, Consumer Reports got so much mail about the rumors after a 1961 article that the editors had to print a second article refuting them again. As late as 1973 Consumer Reports was still receiving mail on the “old bugaboo about nonsticks,” prompting the editors to publish yet another article emphasizing that they knew of “no consumer illnesses resulting from... nonstick cookware in ordinary home use.”
As nonstick cookware became accepted, Teflon made the transition from a low-volume specialty material used chiefly in industry to a mass-market consumer item. Today Teflon is used to insulate fabrics in tablecloths and carpets and to coat the surfaces of steam irons. Teflon plumbing pipes and valves can be found in many new homes; Teflon flakes add toughness to nail polish. In fiber form, as part of the fabric known as Gore-Tex, it is beloved by campers and skiers for its ability to insulate while wicking moisture from the skin. It can also be found in pacemakers, dentures, medical sutures, artificial body parts, printed circuits, cables, space suits, and thousands of other manufactured products. The surest sign of the slippery material’s success is its adoption as a slang term in political discourse, where Teflon is used to describe an officeholder who unaccountably remains popular despite having opinions with which one disagrees.
While the discovery of Teflon was unplanned, the rest of its story is anything but accidental. Plunkett’s training in fluorine chemistry allowed him to recognize what he had found and to analyze its properties, a byway he might not have been able to explore in a smaller firm. When the project grew beyond laboratory scale, he knew he could hand it off to other departments with confidence. Du Pont had the knowledge base to find ways of producing the monomer cheaply enough, controlling the polymerization, applying the useful but hard-to-handle polymer to industrial use, and making sure that consumer products were durable, safe, and reliable. Large research groups can have their disadvantages, but in the case of Teflon, Du Pont’s size was a critical ingredient in its success.
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