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Healthy Home Tip 6: (Still) skipping the non-stick
Even though I'm tempted by some of the new, post-Teflon "non-stick" cookware, I resist. They're just too new to know for sure if they're any safer. And there's a history in this country of replacing bad chemicals with different bad chemicals.
No thanks, not in my kitchen.
In my kitchen, it's guilty until proven innocent. And the cookware I know is "innocent" is (y-a-w-n) the same stuff I've been using - and EWG has been recommending - for years: cast iron, stainless steel, and oven-safe glass.
How boring is that?
But how great that a few boring, cheap, available choices are the answer to environmentally healthy cooking?!
Still have some non-stick around the house?
It's not practical to replace every non-stick pot, pan, and cookie sheet at once (especially these days). If you're still cooking on non-stick surfaces, follow these tips for safer cooking:
- Never preheat nonstick cookware at high heat -- empty pans can rapidly reach high temperatures. Heat at the lowest temperature possible to cook your food safely.
- Don't put nonstick cookware in an oven hotter than 500 degrees.
- Use an exhaust fan over the stove.
- Keep pet birds out of the kitchen -- the fumes from an overheated pan can kill a bird in seconds. Learn more here.
- Skip the self-cleaning function on your oven. It cleans by heating to high temperatures, which can release toxic fumes from non-stick interior oven parts.
- Choose a safer alternative (cast iron, stainless steel, oven-safe glass) when buying new cookware.
What's the problem with non-stick pans, anyway?
Non-stick surfaces are aluminum pans coated with a synthetic called polytetrafluoroetheylene (PTFE), also known as Teflon, a DuPont brand trademark. Learn more about Teflon and its perfluorinated chemical "family" (PFC's) in our chemical dictionary.
Toxic fumes from the Teflon chemical are released from pots and pans at high temperatures, potentially killing pet birds and causing people to exhibit flu-like symptoms (called "Teflon Flu" or, as scientists describe it, "Polymer fume fever").
You're exposed to PFCs in other ways, too
We've talked before about the many ways we're exposed to PFC's, so while skipping the non-stick cookware is pretty simple, we recommend that you limit your other exposures, too. Food wrappers are one common source - minus the PFC's greasy food would leak right through those glossy wrappers. Get our 1-page guide to PFC's and start avoiding them today.
This is tip 6 in EWG's Healthy Home Tips series. Read the first 5 and sign up for the rest.
Wow, that is so worrying to hear that the fumes can kill pet birds. I'd already read of the dangers of non-stick pans but hadn't realised the steps to take to help reduce the effects.
Yes, "outgassing" by synthetics such as Teflon is a recognized problem. There's quite a lot on the EWG website about the health dangers associated with chemicals in the Teflon family. Companies are trying to come up with substitutes for consumer products, but bcause there's not much publicly-available testing, we don't know that they're really safer. Elaine Shannon
We HAD birds...
When I was younger and our gas was shut off we would heat water up to wash up. One morning before school I proceeded to heat some water up in a large teflon stock pot. I fell asleep... well you can guess all the water evaporated and the the teflon scorched. I had no idea that it released fumes into the air that could kill birds. When I got home from school I saw that the bird cage was outside and empty. I asked my Mom what happened and she said the birds had died. It was last year when I started my new "green" lifestyle that I finally figured it out. I saw it on Women and The Environments web site.
I tried a couple of the new pans because my hubby likes to cook using non-stick pans. Unfortunately, the ones I tried aren't really non-stick, so they are messy to wash. They were a waste of money.
I like my cast iron frying pan and even passed up the chance to get a range with a fashionable smooth cooktop because those are easily ruined by cast iron pans.
I admit, I use non-stick pans most of the time, specially when making a pancake so I thank you for the tips you have shared us, Its very informative. I never know that overheated pan can kill a bird, I could have killed a bird without even knowing.
Because there's so much misinformation out there about Teflon, I'm not surprised that you are concerned. I'm a representative of DuPont though, and hope you'll let me share some information with you and your readers, so that everyone can make truly informed decisions.
Because birds have extremely sensitive respiratory systems, bird owners must take precautions to protect them. Cooking fumes, smoke and odors that have little or no effect on people can seriously sicken and even kill birds, often quite quickly. Cooking fumes from any type of unattended or overheated cookware, not just non-stick, can damage a bird's lungs with alarming speed. This is why bird owners should take steps to protect their pets, such as keeping their birds out of the kitchen, never leaving cookware unattended, never allowing pots and pans to overheat, and making sure that their kitchen is properly ventilated at all times.
In terms of Polymer Fume Fever... Over the past 40 years, there have been only a few reported accounts of polymer fume fever as a result of severely overheating non-stick cookware. It should be noted that butter, fats, and cooking oils will begin to smoke at approximately 400°F (204°C), producing fumes that can irritate eyes, nose, and throat and possibly cause respiratory distress. DuPont non-stick coatings will not begin to deteriorate in appearance or performance until the temperature of the cookware reaches about 500°F
Regulatory agencies, consumer groups and health associations all have taken a close look at Teflon. This article highlights what they found -- the bottom line is that you can use Teflon without worry.
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/home-garden/kitchen/cookware-bakeware-cutlery/nonstick-pans-6-07/overview/0607_pans_ov_1.htm
Ross4Teflon, Thanks for taking the time to weigh in and add to this conversation. But, we have to respectfully disagree with the points you make to defend Teflon because, well, we know otherwise - from our own tests and research. In short:
Burning butter may be bad, but it doesn't kill birds or harm people's health. 20,000 pet birds a year die each year from teflon fumes, not a single one from overheated olive oil.
For the full monty on why EWG confidently recommends that people avoid non-stick cookware, which includes Teflon, please see our longstanding research and testing on the material here: http://www.ewg.org/reports/toxicteflon.
You said we should skip using the self-cleaning feature of our ovens. What is the easiest, non-toxic way to clean an oven? Thanks.
I was wondering if there was any information on non-stick ceramic? Apparently it's PFDA and PFTE free. Any information will be helpful. Thanks.