Guest guest Posted March 31, 2006 Report Share Posted March 31, 2006 I don't do much posting in this group but have been lurking for a long time. But since I work for the company that makes Teflon (DuPont) I felt that I had to respond to these posts. I am an environmental engineer and have been very involved in the whole issue over the last few years. I am in no way endorsing teflon, but I feel that people should have their facts straight so that they can make the decision on whether they want to use it or not. So here goes: - Teflon itself is not the health concern here, it is PFOA, a chemical that is used to make Teflon. PFOA has been shown to cause cancer in rats, but has not been proven to cause cance in humans. It is biopersistent, meaning it doesn't degrade in the environment, and has been found in the blood of humans all over the world, along with dozens of other biopersistent chemicals from other sources. - Human exposure to PFOA comes from air emissions from the chemical plants which make the Teflon - The Teflon itself does not contain PFOA. The only way you can get PFOA from a teflon pan is to heat it up empty on the stove to very high temperatures (700-800F)in which case the Teflon will start to decompose and emit PFOA. - Pans coated with Teflon will all eventually start to lose this coating. The cheaper pans have a thinner coating, and will peel much sooner that the more expensive ones. At this point you should definitely get rid of the pan, because it will keep peeling and getting black specks of Teflon in your food. - The government is not trying to ban teflon, they are trying to get DuPont to make Teflon using a different process which doesn't use PFOA. DuPont is in the process of figuring out how to do this as expeditiously as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 31, 2006 Report Share Posted March 31, 2006 Thank you for the clarification. I really appreciate it. Jacqueline > > " mulroodj " <djmsk8 > 2006/03/31 Fri AM 08:51:21 EST > > Re: Teflon > > I don't do much posting in this group but have been lurking for a > long time. But since I work for the company that makes Teflon > (DuPont) I felt that I had to respond to these posts. I am an > environmental engineer and have been very involved in the whole > issue over the last few years. > > I am in no way endorsing teflon, but I feel that people should have > their facts straight so that they can make the decision on whether > they want to use it or not. So here goes: > > - Teflon itself is not the health concern here, it is PFOA, a > chemical that is used to make Teflon. PFOA has been shown to cause > cancer in rats, but has not been proven to cause cance in humans. It > is biopersistent, meaning it doesn't degrade in the environment, and > has been found in the blood of humans all over the world, along with > dozens of other biopersistent chemicals from other sources. > > - Human exposure to PFOA comes from air emissions from the chemical > plants which make the Teflon > > - The Teflon itself does not contain PFOA. The only way you can get > PFOA from a teflon pan is to heat it up empty on the stove to very > high temperatures (700-800F)in which case the Teflon will start to > decompose and emit PFOA. > > - Pans coated with Teflon will all eventually start to lose this > coating. The cheaper pans have a thinner coating, and will peel much > sooner that the more expensive ones. At this point you should > definitely get rid of the pan, because it will keep peeling and > getting black specks of Teflon in your food. > > - The government is not trying to ban teflon, they are trying to get > DuPont to make Teflon using a different process which doesn't use > PFOA. DuPont is in the process of figuring out how to do this as > expeditiously as possible. > > For more information about vegetarianism, please visit the VRG website at http://www.vrg.org and for materials especially useful for families go to http://www.vrg.org/family.This is a discussion list and is not intended to provide personal medical advice. Medical advice should be obtained from a qualified health professional. > > edical advice. Medical advice should be obtained from a qualified health professional. > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 31, 2006 Report Share Posted March 31, 2006 In case no one else says it....thank you for posting the info about Teflon. The more info we have, the better to make an informed decision. It is never wrong to post facts, even if it goes against the opinion of the majority. I still won't cook on Teflon pans, but now I have a better understanding of where the concern lies. Liz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 1, 2006 Report Share Posted April 1, 2006 Thanks so much for the info about Teflon--I knew the problem had something to do with high temperature but didn't recall the details. Now, what's PFOA stand for? For that matter, isn't " Teflon " some kind of abbreviation for something else? ~DJ Correo Espacio para todos tus mensajes, antivirus y antispam ¡gratis! Regístrate ya - http://correo.espanol./ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 1, 2006 Report Share Posted April 1, 2006 Thank you so much for taking the time to post this information regrading teflon. Debra Blab-away for as little as 1¢/min. Make PC-to-Phone Calls using Messenger with Voice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 3, 2006 Report Share Posted April 3, 2006 PFOA stands for Perfluorooctanic Acid, which is also sometimes called C8 because it's chemical formula has 8 carbons. I'm assuming the name Teflon came from the official name of the substance which is tetrafluoroethylene resin. (I had to look that one up cause I couldn't remember.) Debbie , DJ <doovinator wrote: > > Thanks so much for the info about Teflon--I knew the > problem had something to do with high temperature but > didn't recall the details. > Now, what's PFOA stand for? For that matter, isn't > " Teflon " some kind of abbreviation for something else? > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 3, 2006 Report Share Posted April 3, 2006 Hi Debbie, I'm curious. Do you know if a high fiber diet help to flush out at least some of the PFOA? I'm a Cancer Project cooking instructor and we use Teflon woks and electric skillets because we are " mobile " and need to bring all of our cooking equipment along. This stuff is light weight, and of course we can cook with less fat on nonstick cookware. One of our classes is about fiber and how important it is in cancer prevention. It would be nice to say that it helps to flush out this chemical as well as extra hormones and toxic substances. Thanks, Tracy On Apr 3, 2006, at 6:06 AM, mulroodj wrote: > PFOA stands for Perfluorooctanic Acid, which is also sometimes called > C8 because it's chemical formula has 8 carbons. I'm assuming the name > Teflon came from the official name of the substance which is > tetrafluoroethylene resin. (I had to look that one up cause I couldn't > remember.) > > Debbie > > > , DJ <doovinator wrote: >> >> Thanks so much for the info about Teflon--I knew the >> problem had something to do with high temperature but >> didn't recall the details. >> Now, what's PFOA stand for? For that matter, isn't >> " Teflon " some kind of abbreviation for something else? >For more information about vegetarianism, please visit the VRG > website at http://www.vrg.org and for materials especially useful > for families go to http://www.vrg.org/family.This is a discussion > list and is not intended to provide personal medical advice. > Medical advice should be obtained from a qualified health > professional. > > edical advice. Medical advice should be obtained from a qualified > health professional. > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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