It can kill birds and cause fevers and now may be linked to cancer. Is it finally time to stop using nonstick cookware?
Minneapolis Star Tribune, Karen Youso
Published February 28, 2006
A panel of scientists advising the Environmental Protection Agency recommended two weeks ago that a chemical used to make nonstick and stain-resistant products be considered a "likely carcinogen."
Nobody knows for sure if it causes cancer in humans. The chemical's effects on health or the environment are not understood.
That's troubling considering that the synthetic chemical in question, perfluorooctanoic acid (called PFOA for short), has spread around the globe.
To the surprise of scientists, it's found in the blood of nearly everyone tested. Practically every newborn on the planet is born with some PFOA. Animals are contaminated, too. Even those as remote as the polar bear and albatross have PFOA in their bodies.
Bringing the issue home - to the kitchen, specifically - some people wonder: Is my nonstick cookware safe to use?
It's not a new worry.
Question with a history
Twenty years ago, when Minnesotans began to notice that the coating on their newfangled nonstick pots and pans was chipping, peeling and getting into their scrambled eggs, they asked: Is this harmful?
No, was the FDA's answer. The chemical coating is inert and basically passes right through the body. The pans are perfectly safe to use.
Later, people heard reports that nonstick cookware killed canaries. They wanted to know if it was true.
Oddly enough, it is. When hot, nonstick pans emit fumes that can sicken and kill pet birds. But it's only a problem for birds because they're so sensitive, experts said. Birds also are affected by fumes from overheated cooking oil and new carpet. Just keep birds out of the kitchen, was the advice. The pans are perfectly safe to use.
Then came the reported case of a cook with "polymer fume fever." That's the flu-like illness first found in factory workers exposed to overheated polymers, the coating on nonstick cookware.
But it's very rare and unlikely to happen in conventional cooking, a nutritionist said. As long as the cookware is not abused - such as cooking at 500 degrees for four hours - risk is nonexistent.
The Environmental Working Group, an industry watchdog organization, disagreed. Its tests showed problems occurring within minutes after nonstick coatings were heated on a kitchen burner.
Now nonstick cookware is under suspicion again. This time it's not the fumes or the chips, but PFOA itself - used in the production of nonstick coatings.
Dupont, the manufacturer of Teflon, maintains that PFOA isn't a big problem because little or none is left on the finished cookware. The EPA agrees. Nonstick cookware is safe to use, they say. 3M, a longtime maker of PFOA, stopped its production in 2004. Dupont and other manufacturers are phasing out the use of the chemical.
On the other hand, scientists think that other chemicals associated with nonstick may break down in the body and the environment to create PFOA.
Still uncertain about your nonstick cookware?
Even if you change to stainless steel, cast iron or anodized aluminum cookware, that won't be enough to avoid PFOA, because it's everywhere. To avoid contact, you'd have to:
- Forgo microwave popcorn and takeout pizza and fast foods. It's commonly applied to the packaging of greasy foods, including fast-food French fries.
- Forget about rain-repellent coats and stain-repellent clothing.
- Get rid of carpet and household goods, such as the clothes iron or curling iron, which can have nonstick coatings. Even cosmetics, such as nail polish, may use chemicals similar to PFOA.
But don't think even those measures will make a difference. After all, how did the chemical get into polar bears?
Send questions to Fixit in care of the Star Tribune, 425 Portland Av. S., Minneapolis, MN 55488, or call 612-673-9033, or e-mail
fixit@startribune.com.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?
Nonstick cookware is safe to use, but with some qualifiers:
- Use the pans only on low or medium heat.
- Never heat an empty pan on a burner.
- Open a window or turn on the exhaust fan. (Be sure the fan exhausts to the outdoors and isn't merely a recirculating fan.)
- Always read and carefully follow the manufacturer's directions for use.
