Non-stick pans have a teflon coating. Can that teflon enter our body while cooking or can it wear off due to some span of time? Is it harmful?
You can check the answer of the people under the question at Quora “teflon non stick cookware“
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Yes, it gets in the food and yes, it is harmful.
The nastiest ingredient in Teflon used to be something called PFOA. It caused serious birth defects and deaths until enough people got together and forced DuPont to reformulate the product.
Now, the replacement for Teflon contains GenX which is allegedly more dangerous than PFOA but since it is a newer chemical there isn’t enough of a track record for the government to act on.
Soooo, when you see non-stick stuff say that they are PTFE and PFOA free chances are that it is still slathered with some coating that contains GenX.
Non-Stick Cookware Set, Pots and Pans – 8-Piece Set
Teflon, also known as PTFE, is a brand name for the special coating on nonstick pans. When these pans are overheated or left on the stove too long, the PTFE sometimes releases toxic fumes, which studies have shown can cause flu-like symptoms in humans and can be fatal to birds.
Nonstick cookware can also leach another toxic element directly into your food. The chemical perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), which is used in the making of PTFE, has been denounced by many experts for its carcinogenic properties. Additionally, some research has shown that the chemical can increase the risk of high cholesterol levels, thyroid disease and infertility.
BELLA 21 Piece Cook Bake and Store Set
2 months ago I saw on tv a very interesting report about teflon.
The coating provides the pan to be very slippery. Until the coating is there everything is fine but it’s very easy to damage the coating and at that point the coating start to crumble away getting into the food.
Around the chemical plant where teflon is produced waters are very polluted. There are alligators with genetical changes -smaller size, but most horrific they became hermafrodites, a problem that could occurs to humans and other animals.
This coating is used to produce baking paper and other products that have to be slippery!
Stone and ceramic pots even they don’t tell it, are coated by teflon as well.
I use a teflon pan just to make pancakes, for all other purposes I use stainless steel 18/10 pots with thick bottom which is the safest way to prepare food.
Calphalon 10-Piece Pots and Pans Set, Nonstick Kitchen Cookware
Non stick pans are not the source of the “teflon” ( PTFE ) pollution, but the production of Teflon(© Dupont) itself. The real pollutant is a chemical abbreviated PFOA and related PFOS they are found globally, and cannot be filtered out of water, nor is there any treatment to remove it. Fluorotelomers (shorter chain molecules produced that have similar properties) are applied to food contact papers (read meat market wrap and food wrappers) because they are lipophobic : they prevent oil from soaking into the paper from fatty foods. Also, fluorotelomers can be metabolized into PFOA. In a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) study, lipophobic fluorotelomer-based paper coatings (which can be applied to food contact paper in the concentration range of 0.4%) were found to contain 88,000–160,000 parts per billion PFOA before application, while the oil from microwave popcorn bags contained 6–290 parts per billion PFOA after heating. Toxicologists estimate that microwave popcorn could account for about 20% of the PFOA levels measured in an individual consuming 10 bags a year if 1% of the fluorotelomers are metabolized to PFOA.
10 Pcs Non Stick Cooking Set w/ Frying Pans & Saucepans
Generally speaking, Teflon is a safe and stable compound. However, at temperatures above 570°F (300°C), Teflon coatings on nonstick cookware start to break down, releasing toxic chemicals into the air ( 14 ). Inhaling these fumes may lead to polymer fume fever, also known as the Teflon flu. Essentially, the only difference lies in the name. PTFE is the shortened name of the chemical polytetrafluoroethylene, and Teflon is the trade name of the same polymer. If you are looking for a highly flexible, non-stick material that is chemical, electrical and thermal resistant, look no further than PTFE .
T-fal Ultimate Hard Anodized Nonstick 17 Piece Cookware Set