Is it safe to use pans with peeling nonstick coating?
I have a set of 3 Bra Premiere non-stick frying pans that I've used for a while. The coating on them says "Teflon Innovations without PFOA". Recently I've noticed that on the most used pan, the 26cm one, the Teflon coating has started to peel off.
I know that Teflon coatings can release harmful fumes and chemicals if overheated, but what about if the coating is physically peeling? Is it still safe to cook with them? Or should I stop using especially the 26cm one? I don't want to keep exposing my family to anything dangerous unknowingly. Any advice if these types of pans are still safe to cook with if the nonstick surface is peeling would be appreciated!
The aluminium underneath, which was protected by the teflon, is getting into your food (especially true with acidic foods, since they will react with aluminium and erode it).
There was that town in the US where 3M dumped PTFE into the rivers and it made it into the drinking water, I watched a documentary where people in that town have a cancer rate 169 times the national average. IIRC
PTFE is one of the greatest chemicals to ingest… if you want to grow some extra body parts.
Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a chemical formerly used in the manufacture of PTFE products such as non-stick coated cookware, can be carcinogenic for people who are exposed to it (see Ecotoxicity).[66] Concerning levels of PFOA have been found in the blood of people who work in or live near factories where the chemical is used, and in people regularly exposed to PFOA-containing products such as some ski waxes and stain-resistant fabric coatings, but non-stick cookware was not found to be a major source of exposure, as the PFOA is burned off during the manufacturing process and not present in the finished product.[64] Non-stick coated cookware has not been manufactured using PFOA since 2013,[67] and PFOA is no longer being made in the United States.[66]
Shouldn't be used anymore
PTFE is one of the greatest chemicals to ingest… if you want to grow some extra body parts.
Actually ingesting teflon "chips" (hah) shouldn't do anything. It should just pass through without interacting with your body. Not a pleasant thought, eating them, but shouldn't have any harmful effects either.
That’s the stuff, serves me right for only half paying attention to a documentary.
Either way I’ll probably steer clear of Teflon pans in future.
I did try to find ScotchGuard a few years ago when I got a new Sofa (Couch for the Americans) and I found it was discontinued because it was probably just PFOA in a spray bottle :)