Heating Releases Cookware Chemicals

Science News ^ | 1-27-2007 | Janet Raloff

[gcruse]

Flushing the toilet with the lid up doesn't do wonders for the surrounding area, either.

[AFreeBird]

My great grandmother refused to cook in aluminium. She would use it for food storage but refused to cook in it.

Hmm, interesting, because aluminum is a reactive container material, and storing foods, particularly acidic foods in such a container can impart a bad taste and discolor the food. That might be one of the reasons she refused to use it for cooking.

But AL and Cu are both excellent conductors of heat. Copper pans are typically lined with tin to prevent contact with the copper, and these days most aluminum pans have some coating, which brings us to the topic at hand.

It was interesting to note that some pans aged well, and did not release anymore chemicals. Since this was a short term test, as is inferred from the article; what would hundreds of uses do to "cure" the non-stick coating?

[Eagle Eye]

Water is toxic in large enough quantities.

Trace amounts of these chemicals are meaningless.

[Still Thinking]

Cast iron. It's the only way to go. I don't like the nonstick ones, and my mom used to tell me not to cook in aluminum, especially anything acid.

[rom]

I love Cast Iron, but for me the upkeep has not been worth it, and I have not found as big of a tradeoff with stainless steel except for high heat applications. But for that I have a cast iron grill/griddle that I use outdoors. Won't touch aluminum pots/pans.

[leda]

non-stick pans are about the most useless things.
i only use my ancient cast iron pans or stainless
steel revere ware. even my cookie sheets are
those huge restaurant sized stainless steel pans.

[bannie]

I got rid of all aluminum food-touching-stuff several years back when I read that they found excessive amounts of aluminum in the brains of (deceased) Altzeheimer patients.

Also, I will NEVER buy food-touching-stuff from countries like China or Mexico.

Pots and pans should all be cast iron.

:-)

[par4]

We're all gonna die!

Actually, the chemicals that are released are deadly to parrots and other birds. Accidently overheating a teflon pan will kill your parrot quick as a canary in a coal mine.

We only cook on stainless and cast iron (although I do have 1 non-stick pan for crepes only, and that one is never heated above medium).

And yes, we do have a parrot, so I'm not going to chance it one way or another.

[AFreeBird]

A properly "seasoned" iron skillet is pretty non-stick. Carbon makes an excellent non-stick surface. I got a Chinese hand hammered steel wok that I coated with oil and baked in the oven @ 500F for hours, occasionally going back to redistribute the oil that pooled down at the bottom or add some more. After I was done' I had a nice non-stick coating on it.

[BTW: Never use a scour pad (steel wool or synthetic (ScotchBrite) to clean seasoned cookware. Just remove any particulate matter and clean with a very mild soap. re-oil (lightly) and store. Pre-Heating will take care of any germs/bacteria]

For pots, I really like my Corning glass. I can see what's going on w/out having to lift the lid. And while glass isn't non-stick per se, it's better than non seasoned cookware as far as cleanup goes.

[Moonman62]

Here's a site that debunks much of the hysteria.

http://www.stats.org/stories/toxic_reporting_teflon.htm

[cripplecreek]

My cookwear is almost all black with carbon. The way it should be.

[bannie]

When a hat gets good and worn-in, it "has salt."

I guess when a pan becomes seasoned, it "has carbon."

:-)

[Ditter]

Years ago when I would go into Sears Roebuck (I haven't been in ages) you could smell the popcorn cooking and it smelled great. Now whenever I smell popcorn (like this afternoon at the car wash, or at the movie) it has a nasty revolting smell. Is it plastic that I am smelling?

[Texas_shutterbug]

Well, those nonstick pots release something since it can kill small domestic birds like parakeets...or so bird owners are warned, anyway.

[MHGinTN]

Cook in steel or cast iron. Incidentally, has anyone settled the question of some connection between aluminum ingestion and Alzheimer or other nerve disorders?

[cripplecreek]

Seasoning cookware. http://www.fantes.com/seasoning.htm

Personally I prefer to do it over a fire.

[myuhaul]

Sounds like the manufacturers of kitchen exhaust fans are behind this study.

[EBH]

That is what I was thinking ...that's pretty darn hot and way beyond normal cooking temperatures. 482F?

[bannie]

I do the oven method.

[Myrddin]

The first attempts at making non-stick Teflon pans had some deadly consequences. The tetrafluoroethylene could depolymerize at high temperatures. In gaseous form it is a potent neurotoxin. The phenomenon was discovered the hard way when all the employees of a bakery using the early teflon pans died when they became overheated. Later improvement in the "end groups" reduced the probability of the depolymerizing.