Hidden Dangers Of Your Cookware!
Hidden Dangers in Your Cookware.
Are we Harming Our Children?
Most people are aware of air pollution, water pollution and the dangers of household chemicals. Studies are now showing that certain cookware can also be polluting our bodies. Below are just some examples of how "traditional" cookware can be hazardous to you and you and your family's health.
PLEASE Watch the "20/20 News Report" video at the bottom of page.
REGULAR STAINLESS STEEL:
There are many grades of stainless steel. Regular stainless steel cookware is made from different alloys including scrap metal. "Most stainless steel sold in stores is of such a nature to allow chrome and nickel to bleed into the foods as the salts and acids of the food react with the pot." Dr. Shelton says, for cleanliness and safety reasons, your food should be cooked on only high-grade T304 Surgical Stainless Steel. Be aware of the high-end department store cookware. Even the top chefs on the national T.V. cooking shows will use these types of stainless steel cookware.
><> CharDáns Gourmet Waterless Cookware is a Faith Based Business. Click here <><
CAST IRON:
Most porous of all metals. Grease can turn rancid in pores. Some people believe that they can get iron from a cast iron pot. The reality is that iron comes in a ferrous and a ferric form. Your body cannot assimilate the iron (ferric) from a cast iron pan.
GLASS / ENAMEL COATED:
Poor heat distribution. Foods stick and burn. Contains lead. Lead can cause reproductive harm and learning disabilities. Prop. 65 If gas is unleaded, shouldn't our cookware also be free of lead
NON-STICK COATED / TEFLON:
Teflon Can scratch, chip and flake. "Exposure to Teflon resins at temperatures above 393ºF may produce a condition termed polymer fume fever characterized by flu-like symptoms in children and adults, such as chills, fever, body aches, nausea and occasional vomiting." Federal Aviation Agency Occupational Health & Safety Bulletin. A chemical, C-8, used to make non-stick coated pans has been linked to birth defects in humans to cancer in laboratory animals. The chemical is also present in the blood for up to 4 years and can show up in breast milk.
ALUMINUM/ Very soft metal:
Extreme chemical reaction between food and pan. "All Vegetables cooked in Aluminum produce hydroxide poison which neutralizes digestive juices, producing stomach and gastrointestinal trouble, such as stomach ulcers and colitis." Dr. A. McGuigan's Report on Findings for the Federal Trade Comm. In Docet Case No. 540 Washington, D.C. Note: The sale of aluminum cookware is prohibited in Germany, France, Belgium, Gr. Britain Switzerland, Hungary and Brazil. Why not the United States?
Non-stick cookware has been popular because, well, it's non-stick -- very convenient to use and clean. But it also emits toxic fumes when overheated. Environmental Working Group recommends that you choose safer cookware to reduce the risk of inhaling toxic particles when you let that non-stick pan get even a little too hot. And who doesn't do that occasionally?
PLEASE Watch the "20/20 News Report" video at the bottom of page.
Non-stick surfaces are metal pans (such as aluminum pans) coated with a synthetic polymer called polytetrafluoroetheylene (PTFE), also known as Teflon, a DuPont brand trademark.
Toxic fumes from the Teflon chemical released from pots and pans at high temperatures may kill pet birds and cause people to develop flu-like symptoms (called "Teflon Flu" or, as scientists describe it, "Polymer fume fever"). Ingesting particles that flake off scratched non-stick cookware isn't toxic because solid PTFE flakes are inert.
Manufacturers' labels often warn consumers to avoid high heat when cooking on Teflon. But EWG-commissioned tests conducted in 2003 showed that in just two to five minutes on a conventional stove top, cookware coated with Teflon and other non-stick surfaces could exceed temperatures at which the coating breaks apart and emits toxic particles and gases. (This problem still exist today).
Health dangers:
As stated above, 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.
PFCs have been found in nearly all Americans tested by federal public health officials. 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.
Environmental hazards:
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, bioaccumulation, and toxicity properties to an extraordinary degree".
Are you willing to take a chance:
Are you willing to take a chance with you and your children's health by continuing to use your Teflon cookware? We offer alternative cookware with our Healthy Gourmet T304 Waterless Cookware.
Please Watch the "20/20 News Report" video at bottom of page.
HOW TO COOK WITH NON-STICK IF YOU'RE 'STUCK' WITH IT
EWG finds heated Teflon pans can turn toxic faster than DuPont claims
In two to five minutes on a conventional stovetop, cookware coated with Teflon and other non-stick surfaces can exceed temperatures at which the coating breaks apart and emits toxic particles and gases linked to hundreds, perhaps thousands, of pet bird deaths and an unknown number of human illnesses each year, according to tests commissioned by Environmental Working Group (EWG).
In new tests conducted by a university food safety professor, a generic non-stick frying pan preheated on a conventional, electric stovetop burner reached 736°F in three minutes and 20 seconds, with temperatures still rising when the tests were terminated. A Teflon pan reached 721°F in just five minutes under the same test conditions, as measured by a commercially available infrared thermometer.
DuPont studies show that the Teflon offgases toxic particulates at 464°F. At 680°F Teflon pans release at least six toxic gases, including two carcinogens, two global pollutants, and MFA, a chemical lethal to humans at low doses. At temperatures that DuPont scientists claim are reached on stovetop drip pans (1000°F), non-stick coatings break down to a chemical warfare agent known as PFIB, and a chemical analog of the WWII nerve gas phosgene.
For the past fifty years DuPont has claimed that their Teflon coatings do not emit hazardous chemicals through normal use. In a recent press release, DuPont wrote that “significant decomposition of the coating will occur only when temperatures exceed about 660 degrees F (340 degrees C). These temperatures alone are well above the normal cooking range." These new tests show that cookware exceeds these temperatures and turns toxic through the common act of preheating a pan, on a burner set on high..
In cases of "Teflon toxicosis," as the bird poisonings are called, the lungs of exposed birds hemorrhage and fill with fluid, leading to suffocation. DuPont acknowledges that the fumes can also sicken people, a condition called "polymer fume fever." DuPont has never studied the incidence of the fever among users of the billions of non-stick pots and pans sold around the world. Neither has the company studied the long-term effects from the sickness, or the extent to which Teflon exposures lead to human illnesses believed erroneously to be the common flu.
The government has not assessed the safety of non-stick cookware. According to a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) food safety scientist: "You won't find a regulation anywhere on the books that specifically addresses cookwares," although the FDA approved Teflon for contact with food in 1960 based on a food frying study that found higher levels of Teflon chemicals in hamburger cooked on heat-aged and old pans. At the time, FDA judged these levels to be of little health significance.
Of the 6.9 million bird-owning households in the US that claim an estimated 19 million pet birds, many don't know know that Teflon poses an acute hazard to birds. Most non-stick cookware carries no warning label. DuPont publicly acknowledges that Teflon can kill birds, but the company-produced public service brochure on bird safety discusses the hazards of ceiling fans, mirrors, toilets, and cats before mentioning the dangers of Teflon fumes.
As a result of the new data showing that non-stick surfaces reach toxic temperatures in a matter of minutes, EWG has petitioned the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to require that cookware and heated appliances bearing non-stick coatings must carry a label warning of the acute hazard the coating poses to pet birds. Additionally, we recommend that bird owners completely avoid cookware and heated appliances with non-stick coatings. Alternative cookware Healthy Gourmet T304 Surgical Stainless Steel Waterless Cook Ware. EWG finds heated Teflon pans can turn toxic faster than DuPont claims In two to five minutes on a conventional stove top, cookware coated with Teflon and other non-stick surfaces can exceed temperatures at which the coating breaks apart and emits toxic particles and gases linked to hundreds, perhaps thousands, of pet bird deaths and an unknown number of human illnesses each year, according to tests commissioned by Environmental Working Group (EWG).
PLEASE Watch the "20/20 News Report" video at the bottom of page.
Teflon Poisoning, Tip of the Pollution Iceberg:
Pre-polluted children moving toward an autoimmune nightmare To open a Pandora’s Box means to unwittingly unleash chaos on yourself and the world around you. One toxicologist said, “We’re already to the point where it is in people and getting near the point where there’s significant risk.” Kenneth Cook, the president and founder of the Environmental Working Group. “It is found everywhere from babies in the womb to whales in the ocean. And beyond that, it is indestructible in the environment. It lasts forever.” Author, “It appears that we, through science, have opened a Pandora’s Box upon the world unleashing chaos upon ourselves and, what’s worse, our children”.
Infertility Linked to PFOA and PFOS (Perfluoriated Teflon Pollutants)
A new study finds that women who have difficulty getting pregnant have higher concentrations of certain nonstick-chemical pollutants in their blood. The pollutant compounds are known as PFOA and PFOS; they are the primary constituents of Teflon and Scotchguard products. In the January 28th issue of Human Reproduction, released online, Chunyuan Fei and her coworkers at the University of California, Los Angeles report that “higher maternal PFOA and PFOS (chemicals released from Teflon) levels measured in early pregnancy were found to be associated with longer time to pregnancy.” Indeed, the proportion of women defined as experiencing infertility means it took them more than a year of trying to become pregnant These woman had higher perfluorinated pollutants in their blood compared to those who had no conception problems.
EPA Charges DuPont with Withholding Tests that Show Risk to Humans from PFOA in Products (a Teflon Perfluoriated Pollutant)
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) charges that DuPont failed to provide immediate notification of tests showing “substantial risk of injury to human health”, including birth defects and liver damage. PFOA, a chemical found in products ranging from pots and pans to clothing and stain repellents (Scotchgard), to food packaging and cosmetics, and a component of Teflon production, poses developmental and reproductive risks to humans, according to a risk assessment from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Exposure Levels of PFOA in Children
Current PFOA exposures in children may be well above safe levels, and some children have high enough blood levels of PFOA to cause serious toxicity in laboratory studies:
Some of the effects of these chemicals:
Children’s health and development problems. Risks of liver, pancreatic, testicular and mammary gland tumors. Altered endocrine system including decreased levels of reproductive hormones, disrupted thyroid hormone regulation. Damaged and weakened immune system.
PFOA affects the body’s endocrine system
Already, the C8 study indicated that PFOA is associated with significant dose dependent effects on the endocrine system, including decreased levels of reproductive hormones; weakened immune response, detected as decreased levels of disease-fighting blood proteins; and increased levels of uric acid, a bodily waste linked to hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases. PFOA is also associated with higher levels of cholesterol, another predictor of chronic health problems. ABC’s 20/20. An airing of ABC’s 20/20 with representatives from an organization called the Environmental Working Group demonstrated how a Teflon-coated pan can easily reach a temperature of 500 degrees while cooking bacon. And at around 680 degrees the pan will begin to emit toxic gases. When inhaled, the gases may cause a reaction with symptoms that are typical of the flu, including a rise in body temperature, chills, headache, etc.
DuPont has said that the temperatures needed to release the fumes cannot be reached during normal cooking. As the Environmental Working Group showed 20/20 in the kitchen demonstration, however, a pan can reach that temperature in just a few minutes.
“At 554 degrees Fahrenheit,” said Houlihan, “studies show ultrafine particles start coming off the pan. These are tiny little particles that can embed deeply into the lungs.”
The hotter the pan gets, the more chemicals are released. “At 680, toxic gases can begin to come off of heated Teflon,” Houlihan said. It also turns out that, DuPont has known about the “Teflon flu” for years.
PLEASE Watch the "20/20 News Report" video at the bottom of page.
How Green and Safe is DuPont's Replacement for Teflon Chemical?
June 2008
Study authors: Olga Naidenko, PhD, Senior Scientist; Renee Sharp, MS, Senior Scientist; Jane Houlihan, MSCE, Vice President for Research; Bill Walker, Vice President West Coast
In 2006, under pressure from the U.S. EPA, DuPont and 7 other companies promised to phase out by 2015 a cancer-causing chemical called PFOA, used to make Teflon and also found in grease-resistant coatings for food packaging. In its place, the chemical industry is pushing new, supposedly “green” food package coatings.
But an investigation by Environmental Working Group (EWG) finds no evidence that the industry-touted replacement chemicals being rushed to market are safer -- and plenty of evidence that DuPont and other manufacturers are continuing a decades-long pattern of deception about the health risks of PFOA and related chemicals.
Like PFOA-based coatings, the new compounds are also made from, contaminated with, or break down into perfluorochemicals (PFCs), including new coatings for household products like stain-resistant fabrics and carpet, waterproof clothing, and food packaging. Like PFOA, they persist in the environment and can cross the placenta to contaminate babies before birth. But unlike PFOA – for which there are dozens of peer-reviewed studies showing links to cancer, reproductive problems and immune disorders – for the replacement chemicals there are almost no publicly available data on their health risks, leaving in question whether food packaging and other PFC-containing products are any safer.
EWG’s investigation is the first review of health data and industry greenwashing since the phaseout agreement was announced. We examined federal reports on food packaging toxicity; industry-funded health studies in Environmental Protection Agency files; and company e-mails unearthed in a lawsuit over PFOA pollution of drinking water near a DuPont facility in West Virginia, and found:
PLEASE Watch the "20/20 News Report" video at the bottom of page.
The industry’s contention that its PFOA replacements are safer rests on two atoms of carbon. PFOA is sometimes called C8 because it has 8 carbon atoms. A key replacement chemical, perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA), contains 6 carbon atoms and is often called C6. The chemical industry would have us believe that the removal of two carbon atoms removes human health risks.
On April 23, 2008, a scientist representing the Telomer Research Program, a chemical industry group that includes DuPont and other PFC makers, testified before the Health Committee of the California State Senate against a bill to ban both PFOA/C8 and PFHxA/C6 in food packaging. He repeated the claim that PFOA is not harmful to humans, and that a ban is not needed because of the voluntary phaseout program. He also repeatedly described C6 as an example of the “green chemistry” approach the state is developing to encourage the production of safer alternative chemicals:
PLEASE Watch the "20/20 News Report" video at the bottom of page.
The bill would derail a promising example of green chemistry at work . . . By targeting perflourinated compounds with chain links of 6 or higher in this legislation, the bill would frustrate the conversion from the C8 based products, that are the source of the PFOA, to a set of effective C6 based compounds whose breakdown products are much, much less toxic and don’t have the same persistence issues that PFOA and some of the C8s have. . . . Our companies are addressing the concerns about PFOA; we’re aggressively doing so. And we believe the proposed legislation would actually do harm to an effective green chemistry strategy for reducing the concerns about this chemical. (Lawyer 2008)
This is greenwashing – claiming environmental benefits for a product that's little better than its replacement – at its worst. PFOA is so remarkably persistent in the environment and broadly toxic to living organisms that using it as a bar against which to judge "green chemistry" is like calling anything under 200 miles per hour a safe speed limit. For C6 replacements, the full extent of the public record on their safety consists of a PowerPoint presentation delivered by Asahi Glass Company to the Environmental Protection Agency. Public records show that DuPont, Asahi, and Clariant are all shifting from PFOA to C6 chemistries despite an absolute dearth of public safety data, and despite the fact that on 3 critical counts, C6 may be as great a concern as PFOA:
Truly green chemistry is sustainable chemistry with products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances. Much remains unknown about C6, but what is known – that it is bioaccumulative, persistent and crosses the placenta to pollute human blood – is enough to disqualify it as green chemistry. Promoting a PFOA replacement that raises such serious safety concerns while simultaneously withholding critical toxicity data violates the spirit of the PFOA phaseout agreement and undermines the credibility of the entire industry.
Global Healing Center: Dangers of Aluminum Cookware:
The Dangers of Aluminum Toxicity Author - Linda Paul
If you don't already know, aluminum poses a very serious danger to the human body, and in small amounts. Here's a little background about aluminum.
Aluminum does not occur as a free metal but is found in minerals and ores. In its natural state it doesn't pose a threat (in cookware and other uses it is very harmful) It's plentiful, (most abundant metal in the earth), and it is cheaply extracted for use in many things. It is resistant to corrosion and very light weight.
For these reasons, aluminum is used widely, in places you may not even think to look for it. We wear it, cook in it, with it, eat and drink it and there is no use for aluminum in the human body. It is dangerous, toxic, to the human body and we continue to use it.
20/20 News Report On Dangers Of Teflon
Are we Harming Our Children?
Most people are aware of air pollution, water pollution and the dangers of household chemicals. Studies are now showing that certain cookware can also be polluting our bodies. Below are just some examples of how "traditional" cookware can be hazardous to you and you and your family's health.
PLEASE Watch the "20/20 News Report" video at the bottom of page.
REGULAR STAINLESS STEEL:
There are many grades of stainless steel. Regular stainless steel cookware is made from different alloys including scrap metal. "Most stainless steel sold in stores is of such a nature to allow chrome and nickel to bleed into the foods as the salts and acids of the food react with the pot." Dr. Shelton says, for cleanliness and safety reasons, your food should be cooked on only high-grade T304 Surgical Stainless Steel. Be aware of the high-end department store cookware. Even the top chefs on the national T.V. cooking shows will use these types of stainless steel cookware.
><> CharDáns Gourmet Waterless Cookware is a Faith Based Business. Click here <><
CAST IRON:
Most porous of all metals. Grease can turn rancid in pores. Some people believe that they can get iron from a cast iron pot. The reality is that iron comes in a ferrous and a ferric form. Your body cannot assimilate the iron (ferric) from a cast iron pan.
GLASS / ENAMEL COATED:
Poor heat distribution. Foods stick and burn. Contains lead. Lead can cause reproductive harm and learning disabilities. Prop. 65 If gas is unleaded, shouldn't our cookware also be free of lead
NON-STICK COATED / TEFLON:
Teflon Can scratch, chip and flake. "Exposure to Teflon resins at temperatures above 393ºF may produce a condition termed polymer fume fever characterized by flu-like symptoms in children and adults, such as chills, fever, body aches, nausea and occasional vomiting." Federal Aviation Agency Occupational Health & Safety Bulletin. A chemical, C-8, used to make non-stick coated pans has been linked to birth defects in humans to cancer in laboratory animals. The chemical is also present in the blood for up to 4 years and can show up in breast milk.
ALUMINUM/ Very soft metal:
Extreme chemical reaction between food and pan. "All Vegetables cooked in Aluminum produce hydroxide poison which neutralizes digestive juices, producing stomach and gastrointestinal trouble, such as stomach ulcers and colitis." Dr. A. McGuigan's Report on Findings for the Federal Trade Comm. In Docet Case No. 540 Washington, D.C. Note: The sale of aluminum cookware is prohibited in Germany, France, Belgium, Gr. Britain Switzerland, Hungary and Brazil. Why not the United States?
Non-stick cookware has been popular because, well, it's non-stick -- very convenient to use and clean. But it also emits toxic fumes when overheated. Environmental Working Group recommends that you choose safer cookware to reduce the risk of inhaling toxic particles when you let that non-stick pan get even a little too hot. And who doesn't do that occasionally?
PLEASE Watch the "20/20 News Report" video at the bottom of page.
Non-stick surfaces are metal pans (such as aluminum pans) coated with a synthetic polymer called polytetrafluoroetheylene (PTFE), also known as Teflon, a DuPont brand trademark.
Toxic fumes from the Teflon chemical released from pots and pans at high temperatures may kill pet birds and cause people to develop flu-like symptoms (called "Teflon Flu" or, as scientists describe it, "Polymer fume fever"). Ingesting particles that flake off scratched non-stick cookware isn't toxic because solid PTFE flakes are inert.
Manufacturers' labels often warn consumers to avoid high heat when cooking on Teflon. But EWG-commissioned tests conducted in 2003 showed that in just two to five minutes on a conventional stove top, cookware coated with Teflon and other non-stick surfaces could exceed temperatures at which the coating breaks apart and emits toxic particles and gases. (This problem still exist today).
Health dangers:
As stated above, 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.
PFCs have been found in nearly all Americans tested by federal public health officials. 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.
Environmental hazards:
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, bioaccumulation, and toxicity properties to an extraordinary degree".
Are you willing to take a chance:
Are you willing to take a chance with you and your children's health by continuing to use your Teflon cookware? We offer alternative cookware with our Healthy Gourmet T304 Waterless Cookware.
Please Watch the "20/20 News Report" video at bottom of page.
HOW TO COOK WITH NON-STICK IF YOU'RE 'STUCK' WITH IT
- Never ever preheat nonstick cookware at high heat -- empty pans can rapidly reach high temperatures. Heat at the lowest temperature possible to cook your food safely.
- Don't put nonstick cookware in an oven hotter than 500 degrees.
- Instal a very powerful exhaust fan over the stove.
- Keep pet birds and young children and nursing mothers out of the kitchen -- the fumes from an overheated pan can kill a bird in seconds.
- Skip the self-cleaning function on your oven. It cleans by heating to high temperatures, which can release toxic fumes from non-stick interior oven parts.
- Choose a safer alternative when buying new cookware.
EWG finds heated Teflon pans can turn toxic faster than DuPont claims
In two to five minutes on a conventional stovetop, cookware coated with Teflon and other non-stick surfaces can exceed temperatures at which the coating breaks apart and emits toxic particles and gases linked to hundreds, perhaps thousands, of pet bird deaths and an unknown number of human illnesses each year, according to tests commissioned by Environmental Working Group (EWG).
In new tests conducted by a university food safety professor, a generic non-stick frying pan preheated on a conventional, electric stovetop burner reached 736°F in three minutes and 20 seconds, with temperatures still rising when the tests were terminated. A Teflon pan reached 721°F in just five minutes under the same test conditions, as measured by a commercially available infrared thermometer.
DuPont studies show that the Teflon offgases toxic particulates at 464°F. At 680°F Teflon pans release at least six toxic gases, including two carcinogens, two global pollutants, and MFA, a chemical lethal to humans at low doses. At temperatures that DuPont scientists claim are reached on stovetop drip pans (1000°F), non-stick coatings break down to a chemical warfare agent known as PFIB, and a chemical analog of the WWII nerve gas phosgene.
For the past fifty years DuPont has claimed that their Teflon coatings do not emit hazardous chemicals through normal use. In a recent press release, DuPont wrote that “significant decomposition of the coating will occur only when temperatures exceed about 660 degrees F (340 degrees C). These temperatures alone are well above the normal cooking range." These new tests show that cookware exceeds these temperatures and turns toxic through the common act of preheating a pan, on a burner set on high..
In cases of "Teflon toxicosis," as the bird poisonings are called, the lungs of exposed birds hemorrhage and fill with fluid, leading to suffocation. DuPont acknowledges that the fumes can also sicken people, a condition called "polymer fume fever." DuPont has never studied the incidence of the fever among users of the billions of non-stick pots and pans sold around the world. Neither has the company studied the long-term effects from the sickness, or the extent to which Teflon exposures lead to human illnesses believed erroneously to be the common flu.
The government has not assessed the safety of non-stick cookware. According to a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) food safety scientist: "You won't find a regulation anywhere on the books that specifically addresses cookwares," although the FDA approved Teflon for contact with food in 1960 based on a food frying study that found higher levels of Teflon chemicals in hamburger cooked on heat-aged and old pans. At the time, FDA judged these levels to be of little health significance.
Of the 6.9 million bird-owning households in the US that claim an estimated 19 million pet birds, many don't know know that Teflon poses an acute hazard to birds. Most non-stick cookware carries no warning label. DuPont publicly acknowledges that Teflon can kill birds, but the company-produced public service brochure on bird safety discusses the hazards of ceiling fans, mirrors, toilets, and cats before mentioning the dangers of Teflon fumes.
As a result of the new data showing that non-stick surfaces reach toxic temperatures in a matter of minutes, EWG has petitioned the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to require that cookware and heated appliances bearing non-stick coatings must carry a label warning of the acute hazard the coating poses to pet birds. Additionally, we recommend that bird owners completely avoid cookware and heated appliances with non-stick coatings. Alternative cookware Healthy Gourmet T304 Surgical Stainless Steel Waterless Cook Ware. EWG finds heated Teflon pans can turn toxic faster than DuPont claims In two to five minutes on a conventional stove top, cookware coated with Teflon and other non-stick surfaces can exceed temperatures at which the coating breaks apart and emits toxic particles and gases linked to hundreds, perhaps thousands, of pet bird deaths and an unknown number of human illnesses each year, according to tests commissioned by Environmental Working Group (EWG).
PLEASE Watch the "20/20 News Report" video at the bottom of page.
Teflon Poisoning, Tip of the Pollution Iceberg:
Pre-polluted children moving toward an autoimmune nightmare To open a Pandora’s Box means to unwittingly unleash chaos on yourself and the world around you. One toxicologist said, “We’re already to the point where it is in people and getting near the point where there’s significant risk.” Kenneth Cook, the president and founder of the Environmental Working Group. “It is found everywhere from babies in the womb to whales in the ocean. And beyond that, it is indestructible in the environment. It lasts forever.” Author, “It appears that we, through science, have opened a Pandora’s Box upon the world unleashing chaos upon ourselves and, what’s worse, our children”.
Infertility Linked to PFOA and PFOS (Perfluoriated Teflon Pollutants)
A new study finds that women who have difficulty getting pregnant have higher concentrations of certain nonstick-chemical pollutants in their blood. The pollutant compounds are known as PFOA and PFOS; they are the primary constituents of Teflon and Scotchguard products. In the January 28th issue of Human Reproduction, released online, Chunyuan Fei and her coworkers at the University of California, Los Angeles report that “higher maternal PFOA and PFOS (chemicals released from Teflon) levels measured in early pregnancy were found to be associated with longer time to pregnancy.” Indeed, the proportion of women defined as experiencing infertility means it took them more than a year of trying to become pregnant These woman had higher perfluorinated pollutants in their blood compared to those who had no conception problems.
EPA Charges DuPont with Withholding Tests that Show Risk to Humans from PFOA in Products (a Teflon Perfluoriated Pollutant)
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) charges that DuPont failed to provide immediate notification of tests showing “substantial risk of injury to human health”, including birth defects and liver damage. PFOA, a chemical found in products ranging from pots and pans to clothing and stain repellents (Scotchgard), to food packaging and cosmetics, and a component of Teflon production, poses developmental and reproductive risks to humans, according to a risk assessment from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Exposure Levels of PFOA in Children
Current PFOA exposures in children may be well above safe levels, and some children have high enough blood levels of PFOA to cause serious toxicity in laboratory studies:
Some of the effects of these chemicals:
Children’s health and development problems. Risks of liver, pancreatic, testicular and mammary gland tumors. Altered endocrine system including decreased levels of reproductive hormones, disrupted thyroid hormone regulation. Damaged and weakened immune system.
PFOA affects the body’s endocrine system
Already, the C8 study indicated that PFOA is associated with significant dose dependent effects on the endocrine system, including decreased levels of reproductive hormones; weakened immune response, detected as decreased levels of disease-fighting blood proteins; and increased levels of uric acid, a bodily waste linked to hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases. PFOA is also associated with higher levels of cholesterol, another predictor of chronic health problems. ABC’s 20/20. An airing of ABC’s 20/20 with representatives from an organization called the Environmental Working Group demonstrated how a Teflon-coated pan can easily reach a temperature of 500 degrees while cooking bacon. And at around 680 degrees the pan will begin to emit toxic gases. When inhaled, the gases may cause a reaction with symptoms that are typical of the flu, including a rise in body temperature, chills, headache, etc.
DuPont has said that the temperatures needed to release the fumes cannot be reached during normal cooking. As the Environmental Working Group showed 20/20 in the kitchen demonstration, however, a pan can reach that temperature in just a few minutes.
“At 554 degrees Fahrenheit,” said Houlihan, “studies show ultrafine particles start coming off the pan. These are tiny little particles that can embed deeply into the lungs.”
The hotter the pan gets, the more chemicals are released. “At 680, toxic gases can begin to come off of heated Teflon,” Houlihan said. It also turns out that, DuPont has known about the “Teflon flu” for years.
PLEASE Watch the "20/20 News Report" video at the bottom of page.
How Green and Safe is DuPont's Replacement for Teflon Chemical?
June 2008
Study authors: Olga Naidenko, PhD, Senior Scientist; Renee Sharp, MS, Senior Scientist; Jane Houlihan, MSCE, Vice President for Research; Bill Walker, Vice President West Coast
In 2006, under pressure from the U.S. EPA, DuPont and 7 other companies promised to phase out by 2015 a cancer-causing chemical called PFOA, used to make Teflon and also found in grease-resistant coatings for food packaging. In its place, the chemical industry is pushing new, supposedly “green” food package coatings.
But an investigation by Environmental Working Group (EWG) finds no evidence that the industry-touted replacement chemicals being rushed to market are safer -- and plenty of evidence that DuPont and other manufacturers are continuing a decades-long pattern of deception about the health risks of PFOA and related chemicals.
Like PFOA-based coatings, the new compounds are also made from, contaminated with, or break down into perfluorochemicals (PFCs), including new coatings for household products like stain-resistant fabrics and carpet, waterproof clothing, and food packaging. Like PFOA, they persist in the environment and can cross the placenta to contaminate babies before birth. But unlike PFOA – for which there are dozens of peer-reviewed studies showing links to cancer, reproductive problems and immune disorders – for the replacement chemicals there are almost no publicly available data on their health risks, leaving in question whether food packaging and other PFC-containing products are any safer.
EWG’s investigation is the first review of health data and industry greenwashing since the phaseout agreement was announced. We examined federal reports on food packaging toxicity; industry-funded health studies in Environmental Protection Agency files; and company e-mails unearthed in a lawsuit over PFOA pollution of drinking water near a DuPont facility in West Virginia, and found:
- Despite agreeing to phase out PFOA, DuPont and other makers of perfluorinated chemicals continue to maintain that it is safe. A DuPont press release from March 2008 said “. . . PFOA exposure does not pose a health risk to the general public. To date, there are no human health effects known to be caused by PFOA.” This is not only contradicted by the EPA Science Advisory Board’s 2005 finding that PFOA is a likely human carcinogen, but by DuPont’s own scientific advisors. In 2005, in response to a similar statement by the company, an ethics advisor on DuPont's Epidemiology Review Board wrote: “The claim of no health effects is not supported by available facts (factual inappropriateness) … Such a statement is misleading, whether intentionally or not, and it is unacceptable to mislead in this way (moral inappropriateness).” In fact, to date at least 10 studies of people show significant health risks of PFOA, including elevated risk for obesity, heart disease, endocrine disorders, and infectious diseases in a study of 4538 children younger than 10 years of age living near a DuPont plant in West Virginia.
- From January 2007 to April 2008, chemical manufacturers reported to the EPA 19 studies on PFC chemicals that showed “substantial risk” to human health or the environment under section 8(e) of the Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA). The health effects reported in these studies of anonymous PFCs include the deaths of laboratory animals as well as damage to the liver, thyroid and prostate. Yet under EPA regulations shielding confidential business information, in 17 of 19 cases the exact name of the chemical is not identified and in 13 of 19 cases the manufacturer is not identified. This information is secret not only from the public, but from health officials in states, like California, that are considering laws to ban PFCs in food packaging. These reports are doubly troubling: Not only is information being hidden that is important to public health, but by their own admission companies are finding substantial health risks for chemicals they may well be using as PFOA replacements.
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- From 2005 through November 2007 FDA approved 8 new food packaging fluorochemicals that may replace older, PFOA-contaminated or C8-based PFCs. These approvals were granted with no public record of any health risk assessment from exposures to the contaminant residues and breakdown products of greatest concern, according to documents EWG obtained from the Food and Drug Administration. Since that time FDA has approved 2 additional substitute chemicals, and DuPont has announced that its new PFOA replacement, the CapstoneTM grease-proofing chemicals, will be available for packaging products beginning in 2009. This dramatic shift in the market and in human exposures has occurred with no public assessment of the safety of the replacements.
- A similar pattern of unproven claims and secrecy is found in reports filed by chemical makers on the progress of the PFOA phaseout. Since the phaseout is voluntary, EPA has no authority to verify claims of reduced PFOA use or releases. Some companies report little or no progress. Others claim significant reductions, but again hide the details as confidential business information. Worse, the industry’s claims that the phaseout will eliminate PFOA by 2015 are shattered by the fact that no company from China, the third-largest producer of packaging in the world, is a party to the agreement.
The industry’s contention that its PFOA replacements are safer rests on two atoms of carbon. PFOA is sometimes called C8 because it has 8 carbon atoms. A key replacement chemical, perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA), contains 6 carbon atoms and is often called C6. The chemical industry would have us believe that the removal of two carbon atoms removes human health risks.
On April 23, 2008, a scientist representing the Telomer Research Program, a chemical industry group that includes DuPont and other PFC makers, testified before the Health Committee of the California State Senate against a bill to ban both PFOA/C8 and PFHxA/C6 in food packaging. He repeated the claim that PFOA is not harmful to humans, and that a ban is not needed because of the voluntary phaseout program. He also repeatedly described C6 as an example of the “green chemistry” approach the state is developing to encourage the production of safer alternative chemicals:
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The bill would derail a promising example of green chemistry at work . . . By targeting perflourinated compounds with chain links of 6 or higher in this legislation, the bill would frustrate the conversion from the C8 based products, that are the source of the PFOA, to a set of effective C6 based compounds whose breakdown products are much, much less toxic and don’t have the same persistence issues that PFOA and some of the C8s have. . . . Our companies are addressing the concerns about PFOA; we’re aggressively doing so. And we believe the proposed legislation would actually do harm to an effective green chemistry strategy for reducing the concerns about this chemical. (Lawyer 2008)
This is greenwashing – claiming environmental benefits for a product that's little better than its replacement – at its worst. PFOA is so remarkably persistent in the environment and broadly toxic to living organisms that using it as a bar against which to judge "green chemistry" is like calling anything under 200 miles per hour a safe speed limit. For C6 replacements, the full extent of the public record on their safety consists of a PowerPoint presentation delivered by Asahi Glass Company to the Environmental Protection Agency. Public records show that DuPont, Asahi, and Clariant are all shifting from PFOA to C6 chemistries despite an absolute dearth of public safety data, and despite the fact that on 3 critical counts, C6 may be as great a concern as PFOA:
- C6, like all the other PFCs, is extraordinarily persistent in the environment (NAS 1972).
- C6 is potentially 3 to 5 times more toxic than C8 to aquatic organisms (Asahi 2006).
- C6 crosses the placenta to contaminate children before birth, according to an EWG study of umbilical cord blood from 10 newborn babies (EWG 2005). While many studies of thousands of people by CDC, industry, and academic university researchers show that PFOA contaminates nearly the entire U.S. population, industry has failed to publish even a single study of C6 in people. EWG's tests of cord blood show it to be potentially as great a concern as PFOA.
Truly green chemistry is sustainable chemistry with products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances. Much remains unknown about C6, but what is known – that it is bioaccumulative, persistent and crosses the placenta to pollute human blood – is enough to disqualify it as green chemistry. Promoting a PFOA replacement that raises such serious safety concerns while simultaneously withholding critical toxicity data violates the spirit of the PFOA phaseout agreement and undermines the credibility of the entire industry.
Global Healing Center: Dangers of Aluminum Cookware:
The Dangers of Aluminum Toxicity Author - Linda Paul
If you don't already know, aluminum poses a very serious danger to the human body, and in small amounts. Here's a little background about aluminum.
Aluminum does not occur as a free metal but is found in minerals and ores. In its natural state it doesn't pose a threat (in cookware and other uses it is very harmful) It's plentiful, (most abundant metal in the earth), and it is cheaply extracted for use in many things. It is resistant to corrosion and very light weight.
For these reasons, aluminum is used widely, in places you may not even think to look for it. We wear it, cook in it, with it, eat and drink it and there is no use for aluminum in the human body. It is dangerous, toxic, to the human body and we continue to use it.
20/20 News Report On Dangers Of Teflon