They called Reagan the "Teflon President." So maybe this is what happened to his brain. Environmentalists are urgently calling for the banning of Teflon, Gortex and God knows how many other products that use the toxic chemical perfluorooctanoic acid. There is some clinical evidence and expert opinion that PFOA kills rat pups, encourages prostrate cancer and, for want of a better phrase, poisons the brain, reports Rob Edwards of the SundayHerald.

The major problem is PFOA does not degrade, so once it escapes into the environment it will remain there for thousands of years. Tests in the US and Europe have detected traces of the chemical in the blood of up to 90% of adults and children.