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This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, in VOA Special English. I'm SarahLong.

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And I'm Doug Johnson. This week:an award-winning supercomputer, and a new study of air pollution andchildren's lungs.

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But first, a report on the dispute over a chemical used to makeTeflon.

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Teflon is a kind of plastic. It is extremely smooth. It can befound on many products, from industrial machines toweather-resistant clothing. One of the most common uses for Teflonis to protect cooking surfaces like pans. It keeps food fromsticking.

A researcher at the American chemical company DuPont inventedTeflon, by accident, in nineteen thirty-eight. Atoms of carbon andfluorine combined to form a very strong molecule. The result is asubstance that does not react with other materials chemically orelectrically. In fact, most materials just slide off Teflon.

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But DuPont faces questions about the safety of a chemical used tomake Teflon. It is known as P.F.O.A or C-eight. The full name isperfluorooctanoic acid. This chemical is used like a soap. P.F.O.A.has been found in drinking water supplies in communities near aTeflon factory in West Virginia.

In early September, DuPont agreed to settle a legal case broughtby people in the area around Parkersburg, West Virginia. As many assixty thousand people are represented in the class action lawsuit.

In a statement, DuPont said that settling this lawsuit does notsuggest "any admission of liability" on the part of the company. Itsaid the action helps both parties "by taking reasonable steps basedon science and, at the same time, contributing to the community."

The case had been set to go to a trial in October.

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In the proposed settlement, DuPont agreed to eighty-five milliondollars in payments and other spending. It also agreed to pay legalcosts of almost twenty-three million dollars. And it agreed toprovide water treatment operations in affected communities in WestVirginia and Ohio.

The settlement plan also calls for independent experts to studythe effects of the chemical. If the experts find that P.F.O.A. harmspeople, DuPont could have to pay up to two hundred thirty-fivemillion dollars. This would go to medical studies and health carefor victims. A concern expressed about P.F.O.A. is the possibilitythat it may cause birth disorders. The company disputes this.

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DuPont agreed to the settlement even though P.F.O.A. is notlisted as a substance that the government considers dangerous. Thecompany says it obeyed all laws about reporting possible risks fromchemicals.

But the United States Environmental Protection Agency disagrees.In July the E.P.A. brought an administrative action against DuPont.The agency says that in nineteen eighty-one DuPont observed P.F.O.A.in blood taken from pregnant workers at its factory in WestVirginia. In at least one case, the chemical was in the fetus aswell. The E.P.A. says DuPont also found the chemical in public watersupplies as early as the mid-nineteen eighties.

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The agency says DuPont violated two government rules. Theserequire companies to report any serious risks to human health or theenvironment from a chemical. The agency could fine DuPont at leasttwenty-five thousand dollars for each day that it failed to reportthe information. The accusations cover a period of twenty years. Sothe fines could reach hundreds of millions of dollars.

DuPont says it fully reported all the information that it wassupposed to report. The company says it "remains confident thatP.F.O.A. is safe." It says fifty years of experience and studiessupport this position.

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Teflon and similar non-stick materials are called fluoropolymers.The Environmental Protection Agency noted last year that P.F.O.A. isused to make such materials. But it said, "the finished productsthemselves are not expected to contain P.F.O.A."

A study by a competitor of DuPont, Three-M, has shown that thechemical is found in the blood of ninety percent of Americans. Howis this happening? The E.P.A. says direct releases from industry maynot be the only way, since a limited number of places produceP.F.O.A. It says the answer is not known.

The agency has not decided if there is an unreasonable risk tothe public from this chemical. But it says it does not believe thereis any reason for people to stop using any products.

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A study suggests that dirty air can reduce lung development.Researchers at the University of Southern California in Los Angelespublished their work in the New England Journal of Medicine.

About one thousand seven hundred children from differentcommunities in Southern California took part in the study. Thescientists tested the children every year for eight years, startingat age ten. They say this is the longest study ever done on airpollution and the health of children.

The scientists found that children who lived in areas with thedirtiest air were five times more likely to grow up with weak lungs.Many were using less than eighty percent of normal lung strength tobreathe.

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The damage from dirty air was as bad as that found in childrenwith parents who smoke. Children with reduced lung power may suffermore severe effects from a common cold, for example.

But the researchers express greater concerns about long-termeffects. They say adults normally begin to lose one percent of theirlung power each year after age twenty. The doctors note that weaklung activity is the second leading cause of early deaths amongadults. The first is smoking.

By the time people are eighteen, their lungs are fully developed,or close to it. The doctors say it is impossible to recover from anydamage.

Researchers say they are still not sure how air pollution affectslung development. They believe that pollution affects the tiny airspaces where oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged.

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Arden Pope is an economics professor at Brigham Young Universityin Provo, Utah. Professor Pope wrote a commentary about the study.He noted that air quality in Southern California has improved sincethe study began in the early nineteen-nineties. Clean-air laws havereduced pollution from vehicles, industry and other causes.

But dirty air is still a problem in areas of California and otherplaces. Professor Pope says continued efforts to improve air qualityare likely to provide additional improvements in health.

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People who travel in Virginia, in the eastern United States,often visit places that are famous from American history. But nowpeople can visit a place where university scientists are at work onthe future.

Virginia Tech in Blacksburg is offering tours for the public tosee its supercomputer. The machine was built last year from morethan one thousand personal computers. It is one of the most powerfulcomputers in the world.

This past June, leaders from the computer industry honoredVirginia Tech for best use of information technology in the world ofscience. The supercomputer project was chosen from more than twohundred fifty entries by businesses, companies and otheruniversities in twenty-six countries. The award was presented at thetwo thousand-four Computerworld Honors Program in Washington, D.C.

Next week, learn how a group of people built the computer inthree months with parts that anyone can buy. And we'll tell youabout some of the scientific goals for this powerful machine calledSystem X.

You can also learn more about the supercomputer, and sign up fora tour if you are ever in Blacksburg, at the Virginia Tech Web site.The address is vt.edu.

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