DuPont sued in Teflon class action case

Two Florida law firms said on Tuesday they had filed class action lawsuits against DuPont Co., charging the chemicals giant hid the potential health hazards of its Teflon non-stick cookware coatings.

The lawsuits against E.I. DuPont de Nemours Co., which were filed by Kluger, Peretz, Kaplan & Berlin P.L. and Oppenheim Pilelsky P.A. in federal courts in several states, call for DuPont to pay damages to class members, create a fund for medical monitoring of consumers who purchased products containing Teflon, and put warning labels on cookware with Teflon.

"The class of potential plaintiffs could well contain almost every American that has purchased a pot or pan coated with DuPont's non-stick coating," plaintiff's lawyer Alan Kluger said in press statement.

In May, DuPont said it received a subpoena from the U.S. Justice Department's Environmental Crimes Section to turn over documents about perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a chemical used to make Teflon coatings.

That came a month after DuPont agreed to settle allegations by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency that the company had failed disclose health data about PFOA for two decades.

In an e-mail statement, DuPont said it would vigorously defend itself against the allegations in the lawsuit.

"Consumers using products sold under the Teflon brand are safe. Cookware coated with DuPont Teflon non-stick coatings does not contain PFOA," DuPont spokesman Clif Webb said in the statement.