Ben's going to kill me. I'm going to have to go through our kitchen and get rid of more pots and pans and utensils...again. Turns out Teflon was even more dangerous that I knew. I thought it was just a problem if it was scratched and the Teflon got into your food. WRONG. At high temperatures (you know, like the ones you cook at) it emits toxic particles and gases.
Read this article, complete with graphs and scary stuff. And ask for some safe and healthy stainless steel and pans for the holidays!
UPDATE: Here's a little further discussion. Thanks, Amy!
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Learning to live self-sufficiently and sustainably in the South.
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2 comments:
Don't go tossing those pots and pans just yet. There's almost certainly some problems with Teflon, but this study is, at best, fairly flawed. If you look at the 12th reference on the graphic (the PDF with the thermometer on it), it's from personal correspondence. That's some godawful science there. Second problem I have is with the "birds dying from PTFE-coated bulbs at 396 degrees F" while stating that the lowest temperature at which particulate matter is detected is 464 degrees F. It seems pretty clear that something else, whether from the PTFE or some other cause, killed those birds, not the airborne Teflon particles.
Again, I want to reiterate that going nonstick is not a bad idea, since fluorine is a nasty chemical (I use it in making solar cells for my research--we deck out in full lab gear and work in a hood). But don't do it based solely on this article, because it's pretty easily picked apart (the two things I mentioned above, plus questions like "How much of the toxic stuff was detected? Did it happen every time? Did it happen only with brand-new pans? What about the 20th time you use the pan?" etc.)
Ben: You are right to have reservations about this particular article. Perhaps it is not the best of its kind. It is, however, an example of a large body of literature suggesting Teflon is unhealthy.
For my home, better safe than sorry is the mantra on this particular issue. After all, we are not gaining any benefits from using Teflon instead of stainless steel.
Feel free to make your own decisions on Teflon! If you're not convinced, that's fine. Perhaps the research isn't as strong as that expounding the dangers of BPA, for example. For me, however, I choose not to use Teflon in my home.
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