The next time you make some microwave popcorn or cook a frozen pizza, consider this: The packaging of many of these products contains a chemical that the Environmental Protection Agency considers potentially carcinogenic and wants businesses to voluntarily stop using by 2015.

Studies show that this chemical - perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA - is present in 98% of Americans' blood and 100% of newborns. It doesn't break down and thus accumulates in the system over time.

The chemical industry says there's no reason to worry about PFOA, which is used to make Teflon pans, Gore-Tex clothing and to prevent food from sticking to paper packaging. The industry says that while the EPA's carcinogen concerns are based on animal tests, there's no evidence that PFOA is harmful to humans.

"I still serve frozen pizza in my house," said Dan Turner, a spokesman for DuPont Co., the sole U.S. manufacturer of PFOA. "I serve microwave popcorn to my 3-year-old."

Public-health advocates counter that the industry is being disingenuous.

"There's never been a chemical found that affects animals but has no effect on humans," said Bill Walker, vice president of the Environmental Working Group.

"I don't know about you," he added, "but I don't like chemicals building up in my blood, even when the chemical industry says there's no risk."

Neither does state Sen. Ellen Corbett (D-San Leandro), who has drafted legislation -- SB 1313 -- that would ban PFOA and a similar compound in any food packaging sold in California by 2010.

The bill has been approved by the state Senate and passed the Assembly Health Committee last month. It's expected to come before the full Assembly in the next few weeks.

"I was shocked to learn that people are being exposed to toxic chemicals in foods they serve to their family and may ingest every day," Corbett said.

She said she was also troubled that it's virtually impossible to know which manufacturers have PFOA in their packaging. There are no labeling requirements.

PFOA is part of a broader constellation of substances known as perfluorinated chemicals, or PFCs. When PFCs are heated, they break down into compounds that can be absorbed into food and make it into the bloodstream.

Federal investigators determined in 2005 that PFOA is a "likely carcinogen" and called for expanded testing to study its potential to cause liver, breast, testicular and pancreatic cancer.

In 2006, the EPA invited all companies involved with PFOA to join a voluntary "stewardship program" to reduce use and emissions of the chemical by 2010 and eliminate the substance by 2015.

For its part, DuPont said in a letter to the agency that it would eliminate "where possible" use and emissions of PFOA "so that any residuals are reduced to the maximum extent feasible." The company is working on alternative chemicals.

Corbett's bill also would ban perfluorooctane sulfate, or PFOS, which is used in stain-resistant materials and has been linked to bladder cancer and liver problems. Like PFOA, PFOS is present in most people's blood and accumulates over time.