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.

With a report from CTV's Rosemary Thompson