Why you should be avoiding Teflon?
Teflon is the trademarked name for a chemical substance called Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). As part of our daily lives, its known to us as Non-Stick coating usually found on our cooking utensils.
Teflon coated utensils
Why is Teflon dangerous?
Within two to five minutes on a stove, cookware coated with Teflon can exceed temperatures at which the coating breaks apart and emits toxic particles and gases linked to thousands of pet bird deaths and an unknown number of human illnesses each year.
“In new tests conducted by a university food safety professor, a generic non-stick frying pan preheated on a conventional, electric stovetop burner reached 736°F in three minutes and 20 seconds, with temperatures still rising when the tests were terminated. A Teflon pan reached 721°F in just five minutes under the same test conditions (See Figure 1), as measured by a commercially available infrared thermometer. DuPont studies show that the Teflon offgases toxic particulates at 446°F.
At 680°F Teflon pans release at least six toxic gases, including two carcinogens, two global pollutants, and MFA, a chemical lethal to humans at low doses. At temperatures that DuPont scientists claim are reached on stovetop drip pans (1000°F), non-stick coatings break down to a chemical warfare agent known as PFIB, and a chemical analog of the WWII nerve gas phosgene.“
So what should we do now?
- Switch to Stainless steel or cast iron pots and pans.
- Cook your food at a low to medium flame.
- If the Teflon coating on your utensil is breaking, avoid using it.
The toxicity of Teflon has been proven and shown in multiple studies and therefore its best that we start avoiding it.
Source: The Good Human
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