No class action for Teflon cases

DuPont Co., the third-largest U.S. chemical maker, won a judge’s order denying class-action status to 23 lawsuits filed by consumers who said the company failed to warn them that heated Teflon may be dangerous.

The cases must be tried separately because of the difficulty in determining which plaintiffs actually own non-stick cookware containing DuPont Teflon, U.S. District Judge Ronald E. Longstaff in Des Moines ruled Friday.

DuPont allegedly failed to warn buyers that Teflon pots and pans, when heated, can emit toxic substances that are “likely to be carcinogenic,” according to a master complaint filed in 2006.