Safer Alternative to Teflon Cookware

After using my non-stick frying pan for nearly a year, it finally gave in and everything started to stick and burn. Just as this was happening I received an email which included the hazards of using Teflon cookware. How time appropriate! Although I try hard to emit all of the products that cause negative effects from our daily lives, it seems hard to keep up, as everything around us seems to have ill effect. So the time approached where I start to pay attention to our households cookware.

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Whats wrong with non stick cookware and what are the healthier alternatives? Non-stick cookware has been very popular as it is very convenient to use and clean. But what most people don’t know and don’t consider is that this Teflon emits very toxic fumes. Non-stick surfaces are aluminum pans coated with a synthetic called polytetrafluoroetheylene (PTFE), also known as Teflon. 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. However, ingesting particles that flake off scratched non-stick cookware isn’t toxic because solid PTFE flakes are inert. Who would of thought? You might be saying to yourself, well, I don’t overheat my pans, but studies showed that after only a few minutes on the stove top, Teflon coating breaks apart and emits toxic particles and gases.

What are the possible health dangers from using Teflon cookware?

“When you breathe kitchen air polluted with fumes from overheated Teflon, you’re at risk for developing flu-like symptoms (yes, “Teflon flu”). The long-term effects of routine exposure to Teflon fumes, and from Teflon flu itself, have not been adequately studied. However, chemicals from this family are associated with smaller birth weight and size in newborn babies, elevated cholesterol, abnormal thyroid hormone levels, liver inflammation and weakened immune defense against disease.”, says the EWG.

Manufacturing PFCs and the consumer products that contain them poses great risks to the environment and wildlife. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says PFCs present “persistence, bio accumulation, and toxicity properties to an extraordinary degree.

A safer alternative to the popular Teflon products are cast iron and stainless steel. Although they are harder to clean, the extra hassle is well worth it. Lodge, America’s oldest family-owned cookware manufacturer, refers to its cast iron cookware as “natural non-stick.” Cast iron is extremely durable and can be pre-heated to temperatures that will brown meat and will withstand oven temperatures well above what is considered safe for non-stick pans. I am looking forward to replacing my pans for Lodge Logic cookware.   Anyone have any tips or advice on using safe alternative cookware, please share.