Health Dangers of Teflon Pans

If you love to cook, you probably enjoy using a nonstick pan. As the name implies, food doesn’t stick to its slippery coating and clean-up is a breeze. But could that coating that makes whipping up omelets so easy pose a serious threat to your health? The answer is yes, but there’s a longer explanation behind that short answer that may or may not keep you from throwing your pan out with last week’s leftovers. Robert L. Wolke, professor emeritus of chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh, says the convenient pans, better known as Teflon pans because that’s the popular version of the coating, are “perfectly safe to cook in.” However, overheating the pan — cooking at temperatures above 600-F — may be what makes it most hazardous, according to Wolke. The high heat creates toxic fumes that kill small birds with sensitive respiratory systems and cause coughing and flu-like symptoms in people, studies have shown. “If you heat a Teflon pan and … the thing is smoking, the smoke is indeed toxic and carcinogenic,” Wolke tells Newsmax Health. “But that’s not unique to Teflon. You don’t want to burn anything in your kitchen.” However, it’s difficult to heat your pan higher than 600-F if there is food in it, he says, (unless you accidentally burn it to crisp). Food typically contains moisture and cannot get above 212-F until the water is burned off, he notes. Another concern about the nonstick coating is perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, a synthetic chemical used in its production and named a likely human carcinogen by an independent advisory panel to the Environmental Protection Agency. PFOAs are part of the chemical family of perfluorinated chemicals known as PFCs that are used in numerous products — from stain- and water-resistant clothing and upholstery, to sealants on fast-food packaging and microwave popcorn bags. Most recently, PFCs have been linked to a reduced response to vaccines among children, according to a study published earlier this year in the Journal of the American Medical Association. According to Wolke, the PFOA eventually evaporates in the coating manufacturing process. However, the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit watchdog organization, notes that when tested, nonstick pans still emitted PFOA gas when cooked at high temperatures (680-F). This Small Group of Doctors is Quietly Curing Cancer Concerns about PFOA in the environment drew attention in 2004 and 2005, when DuPont agreed to pay millions to settle claims that it had contaminated drinking water near a Teflon plant outside Parkersburg, West Virginia. Eight manufacturers of PFOA, including DuPont, have agreed to completely phase it out by 2015, according to the EPA. Another common fear about the coating is flaking. However, while black Teflon specs sprinkled over scrambled eggs can be alarming and unappetizing, they are harmless, according to Wolke. This was a particular problem when nonstick coating first came on the cooking scene and the technology was new. “Swallowing it is like swallowing a grain of sand, but it looked like hell and that scared a lot of people,” says Wolke, author of “What Einstein Kept Under His Hat: Secrets of Science in the Kitchen,” due out in May. What exactly are you swallowing? Polytetrafluoroetheylene, or PTFE, another PFC in nonstick coating. It doesn’t react to other chemicals, giving it its nonstick properties and preventing it from being digested, he says. “It will simply go through your alimentary canal,” he explains. Despite Wolke’s assurances, which are backed by other chemical experts, some environmental groups and health advocates warn against using nonstick pans and advise minimizing exposure to PFOAs in general. They point to studies that show most Americans have traces of the chemical in their blood and that link it to cancer and birth defects in animals and to human infertility. The Silent Spring Institute recommends cooking in pots and pans that are made of cast iron, enamel, steel, or anodized aluminum, and cutting back on the amount of time your food is wrapped in packaging made with PFOA. This would include grease-resistant packaging for pizza and other foods. The Environmental Working Group also recommends using cast iron and stainless steel, and warns that not enough is known about some of the newer coatings on the market, some even advertised as “green” and “not nonstick.” And be aware of what you store food in, advises Marcelle Pick, a nurse practitioner based in Yarmouth, Maine, and author of “The Core Balanced Diet” and “Are You Tired and Wired?” “Stay away from plastic and use glass,” she tells Newsmax Health. “Those are two very important things that people can do to reduce their toxic load.” If choosing to use nonstick pans, consider these tips for doing it more safely: • Be sure to clean nonstick pans thoroughly; otherwise, a grungy coating will develop causing food to stick, Wolke says. • Never preheat the pan at a high temperature and use the lowest temperature possible to cook your food, the Environmental Working Group says. Use medium or low heat. • Use the overhead fan when cooking to help disperse any fumes. • Because lightweight pans generally heat up the fastest, choose a heavier weight pan. • Use wooden spoons to stir food and skip the steel wool when cleaning the pan to avoid scratching the coating. If you stack the pans, put a paper towel liner between them.