Recently I saw a video on youtube where a celebrity was talking about how he likes to cook and in the video he said that he only uses cast iron pans and pots because non-stick pans are incredibly toxic. This drew some concerns in me because I love to cook and typically most of my cooking is done in non-stick pans (due to cast iron conducting heat too quickly leading my food to sometimes burn). I decided to look further into this and read an article by Healthline about nonstick pots and pans and if they are actually toxic. Healthline conducted interviews and investigations into the allegations of nonstick pots and pans being toxic and found some alarming facts about the subject. Typically nonstick cook wear is made from a compound called Teflon (polytetrafluoroethylene or PTFE and although this compound has been found to not be toxic to humans, one of the compunds that makes Teflon is extremely toxic. This compound is called perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA for short. PFOA has been found to cause thyroid disorders, chronic kidney disease, liver disease and testicular cancer. And due to this regulations came out banning the manufacture of nonstick pans which have PFOA. Since this kitchen wear manufacturers have begun manufacturing items coated with Teflon differently to insure that the Teflon coating contained no PFOA. This is done at the manufacturing stage by heating the compound to enormous temperatures to insure that all the PFOA in the coating is burned off. However there are still concerns regarding the non-PFOA Teflon compound now used in nonstick cook wear. If heated to extremely high temperatures (above 570°F) Teflon begins to breakdown and release toxic fumes in the air, but these fumes are much less harmful then that of PFOA. These Teflon fumes have been known to cause polymer fume fever, or Teflon-flu. Teflon-flu occurs roughly 4-10 hours after exposure and typically resolves quickly after 12-48 hours. The symptoms include fever, chills, headaches and body aches. But all of these symptoms are quite temporary and only occur if you heat the pans coated with Teflon to very high temperatures. So in conclusion although Teflon coated pots and pans were once toxic, the EPA has enacted regulations to eliminate this risk as long as you purchase nonstick pots and pans that were made after 2013.
Article link: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/nonstick-cookware-safety#section3
