Teflon and Your Health

[Guest guest]

Did you know that today, some 60% of all pots and pans in American kitchens

are nonstick? And that is not including the cookie sheets, cake pans, waffle

irons, or muffin pans.

 

But it has now been discovered that when Teflon is heated to over 600

degrees, the coating can break down

and release a chemical called PFOA  that can be dangerous to your health.

 

About 95% of all Americans have traces of this chemical in their blood.

 

No study has proved that cooking with Teflon is harmful humans, but DuPont

paid out $107.6 million in 2004

in a lawsuit brought by some 50,000 people who lived along the Ohio River

near its West Virginia plant. They claimed this chemical contamination had

caused

birth defects and other health problems. Without admitting

any liability DuPont made a settlement with the EPA based on eight violations

for failing to disclose its own findings on the safety of the chemical PFOA.

There is another class action against the company by nonstick cookware user

from 15 states, and this January, an EPA advisory board labeled PFOA a likely

human carcinogen.

 

Right now the EPA says there is no reason for any consumer to stop using any

teflon product, as long as it

is used under normal conditions. That means you should not heat an empty

nonstick pan to high temps or risk destabilizing the surface by plunging a hot

pan

into cold water. You should not use these types of cookware

for cooking at very high temps in general.

 

Anybody out there still using their old fashioned cast iron skillets like I

do,

 

For any who might be interested, there is a web site where you can learn all

about cast iron cookware.

 

Click HERE to see...

OR

copy and paste to your browser:

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Information/CastIronPans.htm