The trouble with Teflon

The ease of cooking with Teflon pans is familiar to anyone who’s ventured into the kitchen, but few of us have considered their potential health effects. At high temperatures, Teflon cookware emits at least six gases - including two carcinogens. Once released, these gases can hang around the environment forever, cause illness in humans and even kill birds.

The US Food and Drug Administration approved Teflon for contact with food in 1960, based on a food-frying study that found higher levels of Teflon chemicals in hamburger cooked on heat-aged and old pans. At the time, the organization deemed these levels to be of little health significance.

Perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, is the chemical used to make nonstick cookware (and is also found in coatings for carpets and clothing and grease-resistant films for food packaging and microwave popcorn bags). 95% of humans have the chemical in our bloodstreams. PFOA is even more destructive to the ecosystem than DDT, the now-banned pesticide made famous in Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring.

So what can you do? If you can afford it, start replacing your collection of Teflon pans with safer alternatives:

Stainless Steel
Stainless steel is a great option. It might be a little stickier, but adding an extra dash of olive oil beats exposing your family to PFOA any day.

Cast Iron
Cast iron is durable and can withstand oven temperatures well above what is considered safe for nonstick pans.

Ceramic Titanium and Porcelain Enameled Cast Iron
Both of these surfaces are very durable, better at browning foods than Teflon nonstick coatings and are dishwasher safe.

For more information on Teflon’s toxicity, check out the Environmental Working Group’s “Canaries in the Kitchen” report.