Teflon

[skyhigh]

About a year ago I was having a conversation with a good friend of mine, whos mother is in a nursing home with Alzheimers. He was telling me about the conversation he had with her doctor (Alzheimer specialist). He believes there is a strong link between the non-stick cookware and this debilitating disease. (According to this doctor) there seems to be higher levels of the chemicals released thru the use of teflon in most all Alzheimer patients. Do we all remember the "flaking" teflon pans of the 70's & 80's?

Fast forward to the present.....
My wife & daughter received cookware sets for Christmas, which sparked my memory of the conversation with my friend. So, I decided to search the internet for any additional information. To my surprise, I found plenty to raise my concerns.

http://www.townsendletter.com/June2006/healthrisk0606.htm

Another desturbing discovery.....
When my wife opened the box (a "brand" name product, bought from a "brand" name department store), she found that her set was a "return" item. She found the registration card still in the box, with the information allready filled out by the previous buyer.....the date of HER purchase was 2004 (wtf).

Needless to say, we are returning BOTH sets of cookware, along with my craftsmans drill set (hah, I got 2), and using that money to buy a good set of stainless steel pots & pans.

 

[SignTech]

Wolfgang Puck .................... only cook wear I use ...

I refuse to use teflon ... and I am rarely paranoid of products for medical reasons ... except teflon and any painted products from China ... other note Alzheimer has many contributory factors also ...

You're smart for the return ... get Wolfgang or Emeril .....

 

[skyhigh]

Wolfgang Puck .................... only cook wear I use ...

I refuse to use teflon ... and I am rarely paranoid of products for medical reasons ... except teflon and any painted products from China ... other note Alzheimer has many contributory factors also ...

You're smart for the return ... get Wolfgang or Emeril .....

Thanks for the tip on cookware.

As for being paranoid.....one of my favorite saying is, "What dosen't kill you, only makes you stronger". Well.....thats all well and good for me, but not for my kids.

Another one of my "paranoia's" is standing too close to the microwave while in use. One day I told my wife to move away from the microwave (as I have numerous times before). She replied....Well, why do you stand so close? My retort was...."Well, it won't bother ME. Of course that sparked her next simple question...."Why won't it affect YOU?

I simply replied..... "Because its not Kryptonite" (as I strolled into the other room)
From the living room, I could hear her sweet soft voice say......."Oh Brother". :ROFLMAO:

 

[B-RAD Graphics]

+1 on the microwave...always telling my GF get your face away from that GOD DAM MICRO!!!...and as far as teflon..i am going home tonight and thowing that stuff away. Was always the rule of thumb form Mom..DONT use any metal utensil when using..so I never do. My GF..I have to scream at her all the time REALLY...I dont want to eat teflon..WOMEN!!!!

 

[jwright350]

Microwaves are too big to pass thru the little perforated grill on the door. They are perfectly safe. Even if they did pass thru all they could do is vibrate the h20 molecules in your body and warm you up a bit. Its not like gamma radation!

Teflon is inert, your body can't process it. Its like swallowing marbles... your body can't break down the chemical compound and give you glass poisioning.

You should really go on snopes.com if you believe all this stuff. They'll set you straight.

If you don't like teflon, get some hard anodized cookware. Or better yet use stainless steel with some cooking oil and taste your food all over again. The burned bits are the best!

 

[MikePro]

the crispies are the best part!

 

[skyhigh]

Microwaves are too big to pass thru the little perforated grill on the door. They are perfectly safe. Even if they did pass thru all they could do is vibrate the h20 molecules in your body and warm you up a bit. Its not like gamma radation!

Teflon is inert, your body can't process it. Its like swallowing marbles... your body can't break down the chemical compound and give you glass poisioning.

You should really go on snopes.com if you believe all this stuff. They'll set you straight.

If you don't like teflon, get some hard anodized cookware. Or better yet use stainless steel with some cooking oil and taste your food all over again. The burned bits are the best!

I must say, that was my first trip to "snopes". I did a search for teflon...teflon cookware......nuttin.

So my first question to you would be, where did you get your information? I'm not going to argue with you, but I will be leaning more towards things I've read on the fda website, along with the views of a medical specialist over your & snopes.

Lets give your "glass poisoning" analogy a different twist. How about plastic? If you were to eat a piece of plastic, you would pass it through your system. Now, cook a piece a plastic & breath its fumes....lets say every day .....like you would your cookware. Let me know how you are feeling at the end of the month.

As for the "microwave".....again, no arguement with your "only gamma rays will hurt ya man", but rather I will be taking the advice of the microwave MANUFACTURER concerning the dangers of a leaky door seal. (I just bought a new microwave yesterday, so I know whats in the manual)

But hey, good luck to you dude....and don't eat too many marbles. They will slow you down.

 

[signage]

But hey, good luck to you dude....and don't eat too many marbles. They will slow you down.

No that's what the teflon is for to keeps thing moving freely:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:

 

[Gino]

Hey sky….. and whomever else wants to listen……. besides Teflon being bad for you, did you know heating most plastic containers in a microwave is very bad for you health-wise. Very bad.

As for Teflon…. at low temperatures it probably won’t hurt you, other than by being smacked upside the head by an angry wife, but temperatures over about 250*c are very harmful regardless of what anyone tells you. Now, here is where some people get lost on this inert crap and whatnot.

• If you heat the pan up with nothing in it…. it is dangerous.
• If you have cracks or scratches in it…. it is dangerous.
• If you’re using it and you have scratches in it you can’t see….. it is dangerous.

So, to make a blanket statement that it’s safe…. is foolish. Brand new, probably Okay for making little things quickly, by why chance it ??

The reality is that PTFE itself is not a carcinogen, but that one of the chemical compounds that is used during its manufacture, called POFA, may be. This is written by the Teflon people themselves.






​

 

[Jet Fast Printing]

Teflon is inert, your body can't process it. Its like swallowing marbles... your body can't break down the chemical compound and give you glass poisoning.

My wife's grandfather was recently diagnosed with a pretty bad case of Alzheimers, that is progressing pretty rapidly. I just called her grandma to see if they ever used Teflon, never always used stainless steel. I'm not saying that there is no link at all, just saying it is not the cause for all.

btw, the swallowing marbles bit, made me laugh.

upon reading the DuPont website, I think I will throw away the one and only pan I have that is Teflon when I get home tonight.
http://www2.dupont.com/Teflon/en_US/products/safety/cookware_safety.html

 

[jwright350]

I must say, that was my first trip to "snopes". I did a search for teflon...teflon cookware......nuttin.

So my first question to you would be, where did you get your information? I'm not going to argue with you, but I will be leaning more towards things I've read on the fda website, along with the views of a medical specialist over your & snopes.

Lets give your "glass poisoning" analogy a different twist. How about plastic? If you were to eat a piece of plastic, you would pass it through your system. Now, cook a piece a plastic & breath its fumes....lets say every day .....like you would your cookware. Let me know how you are feeling at the end of the month.

As for the "microwave".....again, no arguement with your "only gamma rays will hurt ya man", but rather I will be taking the advice of the microwave MANUFACTURER concerning the dangers of a leaky door seal. (I just bought a new microwave yesterday, so I know whats in the manual)

But hey, good luck to you dude....and don't eat too many marbles. They will slow you down.

Years of telling my 68 year old grandma to not believe everything you get emailed is where I draw my experience from. LOL. Snopes and related sites are great.

Seriously, do some web crawling and you'll find those are all popular myths that have been carefully studied by everybody from the US government to Mythbusters.

But of course, if you take a teflon, microwaves, paper cuts ...in a high enough dosage it will probably be bad news for you.

And if you don't believe me about microwaves...then you should really be worried because...guess what? Microwave transmitters are in use everywhere, everday and you have them pass harmlessly thru your body all the time. Why then do manufacturers put disclaimers on their products...because of liability. They also tell you not to use it while you are in the bathtub. Somebody will try using their microwave with the front door off and hurt themself and then they'll get sued.

 

[Gino]

Years of telling my 68 year old grandma to not believe everything you get emailed is where I draw my experience from. LOL. Snopes and related sites are great.

Seriously, do some web crawling and you'll find those are all popular myths that have been carefully studied by everybody from the US government to Mythbusters.

But of course, if you take a teflon, microwaves, paper cuts ...in a high enough dosage it will probably be bad news for you.

And if you don't believe me about microwaves...then you should really be worried because...guess what? Microwave transmitters are in use everywhere, everday and you have them pass harmlessly thru your body all the time. Why then do manufacturers put disclaimers on their products...because of liability. They also tell you not to use it while you are in the bathtub. Somebody will try using their microwave with the front door off and hurt themself and then they'll get sued.

You might be onto something there. I heard the lady that tried to dry her dog in her microwave after giving him a bath.... sued the company for blowing the dog up and not having it written in the instructions. Now, I wonder why it didn't affect her kids the same way..... maybe cause they were bigger and could take it better.

I don't care to listen to articles on the internet or magazines written by people that, behind the scenes, basically support the machine/product to begin with for monetary gains. Kinda like our government herealate.

 

[skyhigh]

My wife's grandfather was recently diagnosed with a pretty bad case of Alzheimers, that is progressing pretty rapidly. I just called her grandma to see if they ever used Teflon, never always used stainless steel. I'm not saying that there is no link at all, just saying it is not the cause for all.

btw, the swallowing marbles bit, made me laugh.

upon reading the DuPont website, I think I will throw away the one and only pan I have that is Teflon when I get home tonight.
http://www2.dupont.com/Teflon/en_US/products/safety/cookware_safety.html

Perfluorooctanic acid (PFOA) is used to make Teflon for nonstick cookware and is linked to coatings on raincoats and take-out food containers. PFOA is classified by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a persistent chemical and a "potential" carcinogen. As previously mentioned, the chemical appears to be present in the blood of 95% of all Americans. The exact mechanism of exposure is little understood. One possible explanation is the deterioration of water- and grease-repellent coatings used on raincoats, take-out food containers, and stain-resistant carpets.8

PFOA causes cancer and other health problems in laboratory animals. Further animal studies by the EPA found that fluorotelomers, chemicals used in food packaging, rugs, and clothing break down into PFOAs in the environment, and when ingested. The PFOAs themselves are persistent and do not break down. According to the FDA, PFOA in microwave popcorn bags migrates to the oil during heating, but the FDA claims levels are too low to be a health risk.9

According to a study by the 3M company, of 600 children tested, 96% had PFOA in their blood. Researchers at John Hopkins Hospital has found PFOA in the umbilical cord blood of 99% of newborns tested over a five-month period. Scientists are finally beginning to study the potential harm to newborn babies. Newborns are more vulnerable to toxins, and researchers want to know what harm might come from this ubiquitous toxic chemical. PFOA has been linked to cancer and birth defects in animals, and is in the blood of marine organisms and arctic polar bears.9-11


I guess you had to read the article "Jet".
Ask grandpa if Grandma ever had a pancake griddle? Bet you never thought of that. Or if they ever ate at a restaurant that used non stick pans. But as you said, I'm sure teflon is not the only cause of alzheimers, just as cigarette's are not the only cause of lung cancer (but it sure is leading the "pack").

 

[Mike Paul]

Aluminum and Alzheimer's disease might be worth a search...

 

[Mosh]

I use a stick to cook my meats!

 

[Mike Paul]

Corn dogs aren't meat...

 

[Mosh]

Racoon on a stick is a tasty treat.

 

[skyhigh]

I know you have said business was bad Mosh. Is that the reason you're eating Coon on a Stick?

 

[Jet Fast Printing]

I guess you had to read the article "Jet".
Ask grandpa if Grandma ever had a pancake griddle? Bet you never thought of that. Or if they ever ate at a restaurant that used non stick pans. But as you said, I'm sure teflon is not the only cause of alzheimers, just as cigarette's are not the only cause of lung cancer (but it sure is leading the "pack").

Well since the first diagnosed case of Alzheimers was by Dr. Alos Alzheimer in 1906 and Teflon was not even invented till 1938 by Roy Plunkett, I don't think Teflon causes Alzheimers disease. (unless the first person in 1906 happened to have a time machine ) It may bring it out in people if they are already have a genetic disposition to the disease, but we may never know.

I'm not saying that there should be no precautions, who knows..... Teflon may cause a string of other things.

 

[CES020]

I have no clue about all this stuff, but I do know two things I am never supposed to put in my laser engraver. Anything with PVC in it (releases a toxic gas when burned) and Teflon. If putting teflon in my laser and cutting or marking it with nothing but a beam of light is a really bad thing, I would suspect that heating it to cook food might not be the best choice.

We all have to die from something. Do we really know the impact of drinking Coke or Pepsi for 50 years is? After all, we KNOW what Coke will do to things. It's not good. But what does 50 years of drinking them do for you? Smoking, drinking alcohol, eating bad foods, all of it has some impact. Just what impact, we'll probably never know in our life times.

So knocking out teflon pans gets you what? 10 more days of life? 3 more hours? I don't know. But I do know all those things take the years off the end of your life and those are pretty crappy years anyway, so that's fine with me