주캐나다 대한민국 대사관

동 질의내용과 관련 주토론토무역관을 통하여 확인한 내용을 알려드리니 참고하시기 바랍니다.

ㅇ 2006년 6월 17일, 캐나다 연방정부 Action Plans for PFCAs 발표

- 테플론 제조 물질인 PFCAs 금지 제안

ㅇ 이후 연방정부의 관련물질에 대한 Risk Assessment 진행 중

- 현재까지는 연방정부의 추후 발표가 없는 상황.

ㅇ 만약 동 물질이 금지될 경우 Canadian Environmental Protection Act의 List of Toxic Substance에 등재되어 사용이 전면 금지됨.

ㅇ 미국의 경우 동 물질에 대한 자발적 사용금지를 요구, 2006년 3월부터 8개 제조사가 동물질의 사용 제한에 착수한 상태 .


ㅇ 결론적으로 현재까지 PFCA 에 대한 캐나다 내 사용금지안은 발효되지 않은 상황이며 금지 법안에 대한 평가가 지속되고 있는 것으로 판단됨.

- 아래 내용은 위내용의 영어원문입니다. 참고로 보내드립니다. Ottawa plans to ban some new chemicals proposed for use in stain resistant and non-stick coatings such as Teflon. The chemicals are considered harmful to the environment, and possibly harmful to human health. "We're the first country to actually ban some of these substances from being manufactured and marketed in the country," Charles Ethier, of Health Canada's product safety branch, told CTV News on Tuesday. "These chemicals are everywhere in our homes -- stain repellants, non-stick chemicals, kitchen products, rice cookers. They are painted on upholstery," said Rick Smith, author of Toxic Nation, a study of five Canadian families and the toxins in their blood. The Globe and Mail reported that regulators will attempt to halt the newly-developed products such as grease and water repellants into the country. The products break down into long-chain perfluorinated carboxylic acids -- or PFCAs -- which have been linked to cancer and hormone disruption in animals. The chemicals don't break down in the environment, and have been found in animals in the Arctic. "It may be from consumer products. It may be from emissions from manufacturing facilities," Ethier said. "If this stuff is showing up in the blood of polar bears, they don't use Teflon frying pans or non-wrinkle clothing." The Globe also reports Ottawa plans to negotiate a deal to cut emissions from close to 60 formulations of non-stick and stain-resistant coatings. They can be imported into Canada legally because they were already on the market when their potential dangers were examined. Perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) are a group of chemicals that are widely used in a range of consumer products, from non-stick coatings on cooking pans, to stain repellent coatings on furniture and fast-food packaging. PFCAs are a subgroup of PFCs. The government also plans to maintain a ban on four new chemicals, known as fluorotelomers. First prohibited in 2004, fluorotelomers are precursors to PFCAs, and are the basic chemicals used to make stain- and water-repellent goods. DuPont, which makes two of the chemicals, criticized the decision. In a statement released Monday, the company said the extension of the ban "is not warranted based on the available science." DuPont also makes perfluorooctanoic acid, known as PFOA. It is a processing agent used in the manufacture of Teflon. Earlier this year, a group of scientific advisers to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved a recommendation that PFOA should be considered a likely carcinogen. Health Canada and Environment Canada are now reviewing PFOA, said The Globe. The two departments are also studying perfluorooctanyl sulfonate, or PFOS, that was once used to make the Scotchgard line of stain-resistant coatings. In the meantime, Angela Rickman of the Sierra Club has thrown out her non-stick pans and gone back to cast-iron fry pans. "It's a little more elbow grease but a lot less toxic," she said. Dupot believes that Environment Canada's decision is not warranted on available science, saying that the chemicals have not been linked to human health problems. Still, Dupont says the company will voluntarily reduce PFCAs for factory emissions and its products.