Please recognize that non-stick cookware does not actually contain the mentioned chemicals, that rather they are used during the manufacturing process. The concern stems more from the persistence of the chemicals, making them more or less impossible to discard without exposing people to them. The risk of exposure hasn't been established, but just as with the other items you mention - lead and mercury - things our bodies can't get rid of don't leave much room for error. At any rate, remember that you can better reduce your overall cancer risk by what you cook in your pan, rather than what pan you cook in.

Reply

Yes, you definitely want to watch what you cook in your pan, but don't downplay the risks associated with using Teflon. The non-stick surfaces (especially in lower-quality cookware) often scratch and flake right into the food you're cooking and ingesting. An episode of ABC's 20/20 interviewed Uma Chowdhry, Dupont's vice president of R&D, and Jane Houlihan, vice president for research at the Environmental Working Group. These are a few of the issues they covered:

**The ‘Teflon Flu’

There is another more immediate health problem from Teflon, according to the Environmental Working Group. Cooking with Teflon can make a person sick with a temporary flu if a non-stick pan gets overheated.

"It feels like the flu," said Houlihan, "headaches, chills, backache, temperature between 100 and 104 degrees."

DuPont says that fumes are released from the pan when it is overheated, which they say occurs at temperatures that are not reached during normal cooking.

As the Environmental Working Group showed 20/20 in a kitchen demonstration, however, a pan can reach that temperature in just a few minutes.

"At 554 degrees Fahrenheit," said Houlihan, "studies show ultrafine particles start coming off the pan. These are tiny little particles that can embed deeply into the lungs."

The hotter the pan gets, the more chemicals are released. "At 680, toxic gases can begin to come off of heated Teflon," Houlihan said.

It turns out, DuPont has known about the "Teflon flu" for years.

"You get some fumes, yes," said Chowdhry, "and you get a flu-like symptom, which is reversible." Chowdhry said the flu is temporary and lasts at most for a couple of days. She also added that a warning about the flu, while not on the pans themselves, is on the DuPont Web site.

In the demonstration for 20/20, a piece of bacon was just getting crisp when the Teflon pan went beyond the initial warning point of 500 degrees.

"I've never cooked bacon," said Chowdhry. "I can't comment."

The Environmental Working Group has tried without success to get the government to order that warning labels be put on non-stick pans.

Bird Owners Beware

One consumer warning DuPont does issue about Teflon fumes involves not humans, but birds. The fumes from overheated Teflon pans can be lethal to them.

Shelby Greenman told 20/20 that her pet cockatoo keeled over in its cage down the hall from the kitchen after all the water boiled out of a Teflon pan.

"I didn't smell anything, I didn't see any smoke," she said. "As soon as they inhale it, it's over. There's nothing they can do to help them."

Bird owner groups say thousands of birds have been killed by Teflon fumes. DuPont says this occurs because birds have small and sensitive lungs.

"People should not have birds in an unventilated kitchen," said Chowdhry.**

These are just a rew of the risks! I have experienced the Teflon flu myself, and have switched to stainless steel. The tiniest amount of olive oil works for me.
For the entire article: http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=124363&page=1
For the 20/20 transcript: http://www.ewg.org/news/story.php?id=2140

Reply