The Sticky Teflon Problem

Non-stick cookware are a dime a dozen these days, but Shefali Srinivas and KausarShaik look at a new study that links a chemical in these products to lower birth weight

The Straits Times (Singapore)
Published September 11, 2007

Teflon, that non-stick material that makes the washing up of cookware a breeze, has come under the spotlight - and not in a good way. A new Danish study has put a question mark over its safety by linking lower birth weight in babies to their mothers' exposure to perfluorooctanate (PFOA), the chemical used in making Teflon. Teflon commonly lines pots and pans and microwave popcorn bags, and is used to make stain-resistant sprays and other products. The study found that the higher the level of this chemical - a gas considered to be an environmental pollutant - in the mother's blood, the less her baby weighed. This finding mirrors the results of studies of PFOA's effects on animal birth weights. However, researchers are cautioning against alarm and want more studies done before identifying non-stick cookware as the sole culprit.Non-stick chemicals have attracted a cloud of health concerns for years.Teflon is a patented product of chemicals giant DuPont, but most people use it as a generic term for non-stick chemicals. The fluoropolymers in the liquid paint coating applied to cookware are what make them non-stick.Most of these coatings - approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for cookware since the 1960s - are sold under trade names like Teflon, Tefal and Calphalon. Non-stick woes The Danish study was one of the first to examine the link between exposure to PFOA and human health; until now, the health concerns raised stemmed from the effects it has on animals. Consumer and environmental groups have also been arguing for decades that non-stick cookware produces harmful fumes, pollutes the environment and could cause long-term health problems in humans. Teflon's bad rep began in 2003, with a report by the non-profit Environmental Working Group which said that the fumes released while cooking at very high heat on non-stick cookware could kill birds. Eight major producers in the industry pledged last year that they would phase out emissions of PFOA from factories and from their products within eight years. Also last year, DuPont was fined US$10.25 million (S$15.8 million) - the largest ever civil penalty - for failing to report that it had known for over 20 years that the chemical can pass from a woman's blood to her unborn baby. DuPont paid a further $16.5 million for not revealing that an in-house study of its employees linked PFOA exposure to cancer, birth defects and liver damage. So is it safe? With many products featuring non-stick properties, it is hard to reduce one's exposure to these chemicals. While a phase-out of the chemical is in the works in the European Union and the United States, what is a concerned customer to do in the meantime?Some consumers simply avoid non-stick products altogether, but the convenience these wares offer is undeniable. Not only are non-stick surfaces easier to clean, cookware made with it requires less oil for cooking. Ms Ruqxana Vasanwala, the owner of cooking school Cookery Magic, is not entirely seduced by convenience. She has seen the coating come off and worries about it going into food. 'But I do use such cookware once in a while - when I have to,' she said. In Singapore, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority has deemed non-stick cookware safe 'under normal use'. 'Normal use' means not using metal or sharp spoons or spatulas that can scratch the material. It also means throwing out pans that are peeling. It means not turning up the heat on an empty pan or cooking foods at very high heat in such pans. The DuPont website states that its non-stick coatings will not begin to decompose until temperatures exceed 349deg C - well above smoking point for cooking oil, fats or butter. The crux of the issue is whether PFOA is released when non-stick cookware is heated. If it is, at what temperature does it happen and is this temperature reached under 'normal' cooking conditions? An experiment by Cook's Illustrated, an American magazine, found that the temperature in an empty pan reached 500deg F (260 deg C) in two to three minutes, but when the pan was filled with food, there was no 'excess heat'. Moving the food around also ensured that temperatures shot beyond 300 deg C in the pans for only a second. DuPont and Tefal add that non-stick cookware should not be used for broiling, where temperatures can go up to about 260 deg C.The US Environmental Protection Agency also states that such 'routine' use of non-stick cookware is safe and not a cause for concern. E-mail: sshefali@sph.com.sg, kausarsn@sph.com.sg