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They’re designed to make our life easier, but products such as stain-resistant carpets, non-stick cookware and microwave popcorn may also be causing harm, according to a growing body of research.

The trouble comes from perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), an indestructible chemical and suspected carcinogen used during the manufacture of these products. New research shows PFOAs are also being released into the environment when certain volatile compounds, such as those found in windshield wiper fluid, break down. PFOAs are used to make a wide variety of products, including fast food wrappers, cosmetics, paints, polishes, and waterproof clothing.

A study by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last year found that chemicals used to coat microwave popcorn bags could also metabolize into PFOAs and that these dangerous chemicals were being transferred from the bags to the popcorn oil when heated in a microwave.

The FDA isn’t the only federal agency concerned about PFOAs. The Environmental Protection Agency wants companies to start dramatically cutting back on their use of these compounds, asking for a 95 percent reduction by 2010. Several companies, including DuPont (the maker of Teflon), have signed voluntary agreements setting the 95 percent reduction goal and promising to eliminate PFOA emissions completely by 2015.

PFOA is a man-made chemical found at very low levels in the blood of the general U.S. population. It is a suspected carcinogen and stays in the body for many years. It has been shown to cause liver, developmental and reproductive problems in lab animals.

For more information, go to http://www.epa.gov/oppt/pfoa/pfoaeca.htm, or www.ewg.org/news/story.php?id=4990.

To read more about this and other environmental health issues, go to www.healthandenvironment.org, www.environmentalhealthnews.org or www.ourstolenfuture.org.