Health fears persist over non-stick pots and pans

Owners and experts say birds have died from Teflon poisoning. Picture / Hawke's Bay Today

Cooks beware. If you use non-stick pots and pans improperly, you could catch "Teflon flu" - or wipe out your pet budgie.

Non-stick coatings made of Teflon employ a chemical called perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), which can become toxic at high temperatures.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has ruled PFOA was a "likely" carcinogen, meaning it could cause cancer.

Both Teflon manufacturer DuPont and the EPA say people have little to worry about, if they use non-stick cookware properly.

While PFOA was used in the Teflon manufacturing process, it was not in the finished product, they say. At most, traces might remain.

However, the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a non-profit advocacy organisation in Washington, says non-stick cookware can give off potentially harmful fumes at medium to high temperatures.

When inhaled, those fumes lead to what is termed "Teflon flu" - headaches, chills, backache and fever. More ominously, the fumes kill birds that are nearby.

In 2003, a US consumer told ABC television's 20/20 programme that her pet cockatoo keeled over in its cage down the hall from the kitchen after all the water boiled out of a Teflon pan. Birds have hypersensitive respiratory systems, which is why canaries were used to warn miners of the presence of poisonous gases.

In 2003, the EWG reported non-stick coatings "could reach 700F (370C) in as little as three to five minutes, releasing 15 toxic gases and chemicals, including two carcinogens".

The New Zealand Food and Safety Authority said it saw no danger in the use of the cookware, which is popular because less oil and butter is used in cooking.

It said it had no concerns that routine use of adult household products coated with Teflon or similar non-stick products posed any health problems.

It had been well documented that Teflon or other non-stick coated cookware could give off toxic fumes if it was heated to about 500C, said senior communications adviser Diane Robinson.

"But I can't imagine anybody using the normal frying pan will be heating their food up to that extent and if they were the food would be more harmful than the Teflon, should you feel the need to eat it," she said.

DuPont has said cookware with Teflon non-stick coating has a recommended maximum use of 260C and decomposition of the coating will occur only when temperatures exceed about 350C, which could easily happen if non-stick pans were left dry or empty on a hot burner.

Cook's Illustrated magazine in the United States reported such extreme temperatures could even be reached by cooking some foods on high heat (such as stir fries), when it tested non-stick skillets last year.

In most cases, the top temperature registered for only a few seconds, falling by as much as 95C as the food was moved around the pan.

Ms Robinson said the EPA had said it had no concerns about Teflon and other non-stick cookware being used at the correct temperatures.

Teflon flu was an urban myth, she said.

But Green Party MP Sue Kedgley said the New Zealand Food Safety Authority was turning a blind eye to food safety risks. There was international concern over the risk of Teflon-coated non-stick pans and pots and their adverse effects on health.

But the NZFSA had not issued warnings or advised consumers about the dangers to their health, said Ms Kedgley.

"The NZFSA has a standard public relations mantra to downplay the risks, saying they are keeping a watching brief to reassure consumers and not investigate the issue."

Ms Kedgley said consumers should be informed there were real concerns about Teflon, particularly with high heating.

US bird owner groups have also claimed thousands of birds have been killed by Teflon fumes.

New Zealand bird expert and avian writer Kellie Stewart said birds have died from Teflon poisoning in New Zealand.

"I have not heard of many cases of it but it has happened here."

TEFLON TIPS

* Never leave non-stick pans unattended on a heat source. An empty pan gets hotter than a pan with something in it.

* Don't preheat a non-stick pan before adding the butter or oil.

* While cooking, don't let temperatures get hotter than 230C.

* Don't sear meat in a non-stick pan or a non-stick grill.

* Don't grill in a Teflon-coated pan; grilling temperatures can easily exceed 540C.

* Don't use metal utensils on non-stick cookware.


- NZPA