Reply to Is it true wealthy people don’t cook with non-stick pans?

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[quote=Anonymous]"nonstick pans seem to be safe to cook with if used correctly at moderate temperatures."

From
https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-nonstick-pan/#pfas-compounds-and-other-sustainability-concerns

The full discussion:

PFAS compounds and other sustainability concerns
Many people are concerned that using nonstick cookware is dangerous to their health. The issue is complicated, and we’ll get into the details below. But in broad strokes: PTFE is made using chemicals that could cause a variety of health issues if, for instance, they enter your water supply. However, as noted by the American Cancer Society, the chemicals are barely present, if at all, in the final PTFE product coating your nonstick pan. So as far as we know, PTFE is safe to cook with, especially over medium and low heat. (We don’t recommend using pans with this coating over searing high heat, since it can degrade the PTFE, releasing fumes that are toxic enough to kill birds.) People working in or living near factories that manufacture PTFE, however, could be at risk.

PTFE coatings get their questionable reputation from a time when they were produced using either PFOA or PFOS, which are (along with PTFE itself) part of a larger group of chemicals called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). You may have seen PFOA and PFOS in the news due to the harm they’ve caused as pollutants. Sometimes referred to as “forever chemicals,” they linger in the environment and the body for a long time, and they’ve been linked to a number of health issues (PDF), including cancer.

Nonstick coatings in the US are no longer produced using PFOA or PFOS. Manufacturers phased out both chemicals in the mid 2010s and replaced them with other PFAS, including GenX chemicals (a replacement for PFOA from Chemours, the maker of Teflon) and PFBS (a PFOS replacement manufactured by 3M). In theory, these newer, shorter-chain PFAS compounds are safer than PFOA and PFOS because they break down faster and therefore may not remain in the environment or bloodstream as long.

But the new PFAS compounds haven’t been in use long enough for us to know whether they have long-term effects on humans who are exposed to them. And studies in animals already show that the newer PFAS may still pose risks. The EPA reports that, “following oral exposure [in animals] ... GenX chemicals have been linked to health effects on the liver, the kidney, the immune system, and developmental effects, as well as cancer. PFBS has been linked to health effects on the thyroid, reproductive system, development, and kidney.”

The EPA under the current administration seems to be concerned about PFAS as a whole, and it says it is working to research these compounds more thoroughly. As of June 2022, the EPA has issued an interim updated health advisory (PDF) on PFOA and PFOS in drinking water, significantly lowering the level at which water is considered to be contaminated. At the same time, it issued a new health advisory for GenX and PFBS (although at higher doses than the health advisory for PFOA and PFOS). The agency has also proposed designating PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (also known as CERCLA or Superfund), which would in part hold companies accountable for cleaning up PFOA and PFOS pollution.

All of which is to say that nonstick pans seem to be safe to cook with if used correctly at moderate temperatures. But there is real reason to be concerned about all PFAS as a pollutant, even if the newer ones appear to be less risky. There’s also a lot we don’t know, including which steps individual manufacturers are currently taking to protect their workers or prevent PFAS from entering the water supply. If that concerns you, there are PTFE-free cookware options that naturally develop nonstick qualities.
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