Non-Stick Cookware Safety
Last fall I questioned the safety of non-stick cookware. The article did not attract too much attention back then, but look for the issue to be much more in the new in coming weeks.
I watched a very interesting webcast from West Virginia University. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the history of the safety issues associated with perfluorocarbons, the chemicals used in the coatings on Teflon and other non stick cookware. The streaming broadcast is a bit jumpy and at times a bit technical. Fortunately the Environmental Working Group has summarized this presentation nicely here: http://www.ewg.org/node/26517.
These chemicals are present in all of the world ecosystems. They are present the blood of most humans, even those living in isolated areas. Concentrations increase as you go up the food chain. This suggests exposure from many sources other than cookware. Our pots and pans are just an easily recognized use and exposure risk. Potential human exposure comes from drinking water, food can coatings, food packaging, and fast food take out boxes. It is also used in less well know places like the stain repellent coatings on clothing and furniture, and the slippery coatings on dental floss.
Although it us used in non stick cookware coatings, some studies are inconclusive as to whether exposure from cookware use, when compared to other exposures, is a significant risk to humans. We get exposed from so many other sources, it is difficult to say what the biggest risks are. We can control cookware exposure, however, so I suggest you think about doing just that.
PFC’s have been shown to cause pup loss and preterm delivery in mice and rats. Mothers have been shown to pass it on to their offspring in utero. It is a suggestive or likely carcinogen which the manufacturers have pledged to eliminate from their products by 2015. California legislators are moving to ban the non-stick coatings from food packaging, saying the evidence is clear and alternatives are available, so why wait until 2015. Why not do what you can and ban them from your kitchen?
Like so many chemicals, PFC’s are thought to be more dangerous to children, infants, and pregnant women. There is also the risk of multiple chemical exposures. This is where exposure to a chemical like PFC is made more dangerous by exposure to other chemicals in our lives. In fact, some view our lives as being lived in a chemical soup, where we are daily exposed to many different chemicals. We really don’t know the cumulative effect of drinking pharmaceutical containing water from a plastic water bottle made with BPA, while eating eggs cooked in a non-stick pan, before putting on unregulated cosmetics, after sleeping in a bedroom with an off-gassing new carpet.
The list of our daily exposure to man-made chemicals is staggering. I think it is a testament to the resilience of the human body that we are as healthy as we are. Many of these exposures are not things we can easily control. Why not control the ones you can?
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Will:
An interesting article. My youngest daughter used to hound me daily to stop using a non-stick skillet for cooking - especially on high heat. I had used the same skillet for several years and she noticed a few places in the bed of the skillet where the Teflon had worn through. She warned me that that stuff was in my system. I was always a little skeptical about the harmful affects of Teflon, but I finally got the message. I still use a non-stick skillet, but now I keep the heat low.
A few years before I retired a young man at work filed a grievance because he said that he had become ill after installing a new carpet in one of our buildings. I visited the building afterwards and I could definitely smell a chemical odor coming off of the carpet.
Very informative post.
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Comment by Swubird (26 comments.) — June 13, 2008 @ 6:23 am
This is so scary to know. I had absolutely no idea about how unsafe it is to use non stick cookware like that.. In fact I am such a junkfood-junkie that I use these almost every evening to cook me snacks, noodles etc!
But mom always advises that I use these pans on low-heat and I am glad, I never overlook anything she says.
*Wondering how much of the harmful chemicals have I gathered in myself till now*
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Comment by Abhinav Sood (10 comments.) — June 13, 2008 @ 12:17 pm
I had no idea we were exposed to those same chemicals in so many other places too! Not sure I wanted to know that. There are plans to ban it though?
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Comment by Jennifer Robin (38 comments.) — June 13, 2008 @ 2:59 pm
Well, California is talking about banning the chemicals from the inside of food packaging. The industry says it will stop using the chemicals by 2015. So I think we are on our own on this one. If we want to reduce exposure a little at least, we should stop using non-stick pans.
Comment by Will — June 13, 2008 @ 3:16 pm
Holy crap, dental floss? is nothing sacred? It is a good thing like you said our bodies are so resilient to many of these chemicals, still why wait till 2015 to do something about it now, again thanks for the heads up, any suggestions for a dental floss substitution?lol.
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Comment by Bob (109 comments.) — June 14, 2008 @ 11:25 am
anyone know what long term affect this has on people?
I like easy cleam up thats why i use unstick.. whats safe to use and easy toclean up ? margaret
Comment by margaret — August 12, 2008 @ 6:04 pm
Hi Margaret - There are some studies that show biological damage, but the real concern in my unscientific opinion is summarized in the last two paragraphs above. By no means are the chemicals in the non-stick coatings the only chemicals our bodies absorb on a daily basis. The cumulative affect is what is concerning. If you have to use non-stick pans to make bread, cake or muffins, that is probably not as bad as the higher heat of frying in non-stick pans. I don’t use non-stick pans period. On other things, like drinking water from a plastic bottle, I am not always 100%. In general, I subscribe to the idea that you make as good an effort as you can and don’t beat yourself up if you are not perfect. But on the question of using non-stick pans on my stove to cook my food, I am perfect. I don’t ever use them.
Comment by Will — August 12, 2008 @ 9:45 pm