Growing evidence shows damaged Teflon pans may release particles that endanger human health. By Jennifer Bowden.
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”.
Environmental agencies worldwide worked together to phase out the use of PFOA by the end of 2015. However, that is just one of more than 4700 compounds belonging to the group known as PFAS.
A 2022 review published in the journal Toxics raised concerns about the effect of this large group of compounds on both wildlife and human health because of their now widespread distribution. They persist in the environment and thus have the potential to accumulate in bodies.
Indeed, researchers have found PFAS in both the Arctic and Antarctic regions. They contaminate food chains, and researchers have observed them in the blood, milk, urine, tissues and organs of various human populations around the developed world.
They have also been found in the air, groundwater, freshwater, marine water, drinking water and soil – so potentially entering a range of ecosystems. And, importantly, several recent studies have found clear evidence of the leaching of PFAS compounds from Teflon-coated pans into food cooked on their surfaces. So, there is good reason to suspect PFAS compounds enter our body when they leach into food cooked on Tefal and other nonstick-coated pans and utensils.
Given the sheer volume of PFAS and our limited knowledge, it is impossible to determine specific effects of each of those 4700 compounds individually or in various combinations on human health and ecosystems in the short and long term. But concerns are increasing about the impact of widespread PFAS compounds polluting our food supply and ecosystems.
What we also now know, thanks to an Australian study published in 2022, is that damaged Teflon-coated pans release millions of microplastics and nanoplastics into the environment, too. The researchers scratched pans and then used microscopes to assess what happened. They concluded that anywhere from thousands to millions of Teflon microplastics and nanoplastics might be released during the cooking process – depending on the condition of the pan, the type of food and the cooking conditions.
So, although there’s no clear evidence linking Teflon-coated pans to adverse human health effects, we know that damaged Teflon pans release millions of plastic particles into the environment. And given plastic pollution is a growing ecological problem and health concern, there is at least one good reason to replace damaged nonstick pans promptly, as you plan to do.
