Question:
Our old Teflon-coated frying pan is scratched, so I plan to buy a new one. Are Teflon-coated frying pans still considered safe?
Answer:
The key to nonstick cookware coatings such as Teflon is a smooth ingredient called polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). Although PTFE has generally been considered a safe and stable coating for cookware, recent studies have shown that plastic compounds migrate into food and once the Teflon is damaged, millions of microplastic particles also leach from those scratches into the environment.
So, should we be concerned? PTFE belongs to a group of chemicals known for being highly stable and resistant to degradation. It has a very high melting point (327°C) and is resistant to many chemicals, hence its use as a cookware coating. PTFE is also considered biologically inert and non-biodegradable in the human body and so is used to coat pacemakers, line the tubes used to replace arteries, and in facial plastic surgery.
PTFE is also part of a group of compounds known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that have excellent chemical and thermal stability. More than 4700 known compounds belong to this group, many of which have been used for various commercial and industrial uses over the past 60 years. For example, these chemicals are used to treat paper products and packaging to improve their moisture and oil resistance. Microwave popcorn bags, for example, are often lined with these polymers.
The primary concern with PTFEs in the early 2000s was the discovery that a chemical called perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) used to manufacture these nonstick coatings was linked to cancer and birth defects. The International Agency for Research on Cancer consequently classified PFOA as "possibly carcinogenic to humans".
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der March 11-17 2023-Ausgabe von New Zealand Listener.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der March 11-17 2023-Ausgabe von New Zealand Listener.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
Morning songs
On a recent early and glorious Saturday morning - it was 4°C outside I let the complaining chickens out. Chickens never stop complaining.
Upwardly mobile
Climate-friendly e-scooters are proliferating but there are stumbling blocks for users and non-users.
A potent brew
There's a correlation between moderate coffee drinking and reduced risk of colorectal cancer - but evidence of a causal link is still percolating.
Food saviours
A little bit of silliness lightens the mood on the serious topic of food waste.
Ode to old masters
The Polynesian sound and Auckland's ska-punk scene are remembered in new releases.
Weaving Welsh with waiata
Te reo meets Cymraeg in a musical project partly spearheaded by Kawiti Waetford, an opera singer with connections to Wales.
Culture warrior
Activist and scholar Ngahuia te Awek6otuku achieved several firsts in society but had to fight many battles to get there.
An age-old problem
Is our lifespan fixed, or might we be able to slow down or even abolish ageing? And what would we do if we could?
When Jim becomes James
'What would white people do to a slave who had learned to read?' This impressive reimagining of Huckleberry Finn seeks to find out.
Manhattan transfer
A Kiwi movie star led the charge for an Anzac garden atop New York's Rockefeller Centre that's still in use today.