Posted on 07/19/2005 1:47:32 PM PDT by Mary_Anne_Mitchell
Only in America: today, a group of Florida attorneys filed a $5 billion class action suit against DuPont claiming that the company has for decades failed to notify consumers of the health risks posed by "Teflon chemicals."
The plaintiffs want DuPont to spend $5 billion to replace the cookware that is allegedly dangerous and provide medical monitoring for the plaintiffs who used the cookware. The suit also demands that Teflon-coated products in the future carry health warning labels.
The suit charges that the "Teflon chemical" PFOA is a" carcinogen" -- defined here as a chemical that causes cancer in rodents.
This lawsuit and its charges are ludicrous on two different levels:
First, PFOA, a chemical used to create Teflon, poses no known hazard to human health. Myriad chemicals -- both of natural and synthetic origin -- are carcinogenic when fed at high doses to rodents. Such laboratory observations are of no relevance in predicting human cancer risk.
Second, Teflon-coated cookware does not even contain PFOA.
Dr. Elizabeth M. Whelan is president of the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH.org, HealthFactsAndFears.com).
(Excerpt) Read more at acsh.org ...
How do they get teflon to stick to the pan?
Teflon is basically non-stick because it doesn't stick to itself very well, so as you cook, your food sticks to the teflon, which then peels off the cookware when you take the food out. It is only infinitesimal amounts, but is enough that even with care, a coated pan will eventually lose its non-stick capability from the constant erosion of the non-stick surface.
Don't use metal spatulas on teflon.
Better yet, don't use teflon pans. I always liked the way thick stainless pans cooked anyway.
"Teflon is basically non-stick because it doesn't stick to itself very well, so as you cook, your food sticks to the teflon, which then peels off the cookware when you take the food out. It is only infinitesimal amounts, but is enough that even with care, a coated pan will eventually lose its non-stick capability from the constant erosion of the non-stick surface."
This sounds false.
"How do they get teflon to stick to the pan?"
Scientifically speaking, Teflon will not chemically bond to anything, but can be forced mechanically into small nooks and crannies. This slippery substance adheres to their surfaces once manufacturers sandblast them to roughen them, apply a primer, and embed the Teflon into the primer.
http://www.coolquiz.com/trivia/explain/docs/teflon.asp
From coolquiz.com:
If nothing sticks to Teflon - how does Teflon stick to the pan?
Teflon, the non-stick coating used on pots and pans, holds the title in the Guiness Book of World Records as being the slipperiest substance on earth.
Scientifically speaking, Teflon will not chemically bond to anything, but can be forced mechanically into small nooks and crannies. This slippery substance adheres to their surfaces once manufacturers sandblast them to roughen them, apply a primer, and embed the Teflon into the primer.
DuPont scientist, Dr. Roy Plunkett, accidentally created the recipe for Teflon in 1938, while attempting to produce a better coolant gas than the one currently on the market. In doing so, he toyed with different combinations of gases and, either accidentally or intentionally, left one batch of gasses in a container overnight. Upon arrival at work the following morning, he found that the gasses in the container had "vaporized," and in their stead, found a slippery, waxy solid, which remained intact when exposed to corrosive chemicals which normally eat through things with which they come into contact.
The substance Dr. Plunkett discovered in the container that day was tetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), a solid version of fluorocarbons, or freon. For pronunciation's sake, the doctor shortened the name for the substance to Teflon, but even the abbreviated name failed to nudge DuPont into production of the product.
In fact, DuPont waited until 1948, ten years after Teflon's discovery, before beginning its production for commercial applications.
As DuPont dragged its heels in launching Teflon, a Parisian named Marc Gregoire learned of it, and successfully applied it to his fishing tackle to prevent the line from tangling. At his wife's urging, he managed to apply Teflon to her pots and pans, and within several years, this entrepreneur sold in excess of one million Tefal (T-FAL?) (his name for Teflon) coated pots and pans.
The concept of Teflon coated pots and pans did not stick in America. When UPI reporter Thomas Hardie encountered one of these coated pans, when visiting a friend who had just returned from Paris, he saw a niche in the American market for the slick pots and pans, and immediately contacted Marc Gregoire in Paris. Hardie pitched these pots and pans to every major U.S. manufacturer of cooking utensils to no avail. His next move in his quest for a buyer was to import 3,000 of the pots and pans, with the goal of selling them to all major department stores. Once again, he hit a roadblock until, finally, he convinced a buyer at Macy's Herald Square to take 200 pans off of his hands. All sold within two days, despite a major snowstorm.
Hardie had finally arrived, and could not keep up with the demand for his product. While building a manufacturing plant to produce the product, other manufacturers of pots and pans took advantage of Hardie's moment of silence on the scene, seized the opportunity, and manufactured their own coated pots and pans.
Today, the use of Teflon coating is firmly embedded in America, and extends beyond pots and pans to include bakeware and other kitchen utensils. Hardie's initiative and staying power paid off handsomely.
"Don't use metal spatulas on teflon."
Use cast iron ones.
With O’Donnell as Foil, Democrat Plays It Safe
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/12/us/politics/12coons.html
His mother married Robert Gore, whose family founded W. L. Gore & Associates, makers of
Gore-Tex fabric, and Mr. Coons went to high school at Tower Hill, a prestigious private academy
where he ran cross-country, wrestled and “read a lot of books,” said Charles Chesnut,
a close friend since elementary school.
In the mid-1990s, he moved back to Delaware; married (he and his wife now have three children);
and went to work as a lawyer for the Gore corporation, a position he kept
while serving in the part-time, elected position of president of the New Castle County Council from 2000 to 2004.
O’Donnell foe’s career marked by political shift
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gUtvkBP2jO_RMHJnCZTYN0ywMgRAD9IDRJ683
In 1996, Coons returned to Delaware and took a job as in-house counsel for W.L. Gore & Associates,
which was founded by his stepfather, Robert Gore, and is the maker of Gore-Tex fabrics.
Christine O’Donnell’s ads buy national attention to Delaware Senate race
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20101017/NEWS02/10170371/O-Donnell-s-ads-buying-national-attention
On Oct. 7, O’Donnell re-appeared with the same dark background as in the “I’m not a witch” ad, but this time
the focus was on Coons, a graduate of Amherst and Yale whose stepfather, Robert Gore,
is president of W.L. Gore, maker of Gore-Tex fabrics.
“I didn’t go to Yale. I didn’t inherit millions like my opponent. I’m you,” she says,
bathed in soft light. “I know how tough it is to make and keep a dollar.”
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