this post was submitted on 13 Jan 2025
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[–] [email protected] 114 points 4 months ago (5 children)

Keep in mind that nonstick cookware is still very safe when handled correctly. The problem lies in the manufacturing of these needed chemicals. When these chemicals get into the environment, because of improper safety management, it will stay there for hundreds of years, taking it's toll on flora and fauna.

[–] [email protected] 55 points 4 months ago (1 children)

very safe when handled correctly

Too many people are not educated about that.

The problem lies in the manufacturing of these needed chemicals. When these chemicals get into the environment, because of improper safety managemen

Which is one of the reasons for that law, see:

Dubbed "Amara's Law" after 20-year-old cancer victim Amara Strande, who in 2023 succumbed to a rare type of liver cancer linked to PFAS after growing up near a Minnesota-based 3M plant that dumped them into the local water supply, the new regulation bans the chemicals and any items made with them from being sold within the state.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 months ago (5 children)

Too many people are not educated about that.

I've never met the sort of idiots who put an empty pan on some turbo heat or use metal with nonstick, but I know they're out there.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 4 months ago (8 children)

You’ve never known anyone to forget a pan on the stove? I know several and even did it once myself

You’ve never kept a nonstick pan despite visible damage to the coating “it looks ok…”?

You’ve never kept a “good” non-stick pan past its recommended life expectancy?

What about the broiler? Even though I should know better, it was just this year when I finally made the connection that I’ve been using a non-stick baking sheet under the broiler for decades.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 4 months ago (1 children)

You're lucky then. I have had multiple flatmates who don't understand what a nonstick pan is, scraped the pans up, and continued to use them. Despite warning.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago

Finns must be particularly smart folk hah

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Spoken like somebody who did not marry a person that is even more careless and ADHD than themselves, lol.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago

Fortunately we only have one tiny nonstick pan that she uses for occasional eggs. And I’m the only one that uses the carbon steel wok or occasionally cast iron.

For everything else, stainless steel with an internal aluminum layer, and a nice black circle in the center of the pans, haha.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I was that idiot once. Nice to meet you.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago

Nice to meet you

*pushes all the nonstick pans into a cupboard to keep them safe*

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I have never seen a teflon pan that didnt have scratches after a few years.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago

I have a few. From IKEA. But most don't last very long yeah

[–] [email protected] 30 points 4 months ago (1 children)

And how do you dispose of it correctly? Cookware shouldn’t need to come with an MSDS sheet

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Put it in the metal recycling bin in my case. But depends on your local recycling/waste management system.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

Yeah I think you're in the minority which your teflon recycling. Mine doesn't even do paper

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago

We have I think 6 bins in the front, with plastic being the newest addition.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Wait, it's not the material on the Pans?

[–] [email protected] 13 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (4 children)

That's the first part, used correctly it's a non issue so just use your nonstick correctly.

[–] [email protected] 60 points 4 months ago (3 children)

Using nonstick correctly: Dont use anything but silicone spatulas on it, do not use more than 50% of your stoves power or gas stove or you will get cancer and die. Buy a new one every 5 years anyway since it somehow became stick pan.

Using stainless pan: Find it from some junk metal pile, discover it was manufactured in the roman empire, give it a good scrub. Use it on any source imaginable and when hawk thuah slides around instead of sizzles, it's good to go.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 4 months ago (3 children)

Source on the pan giving you cancer?

Yes, non-stick becomes stick because the teflon coating comes off, it's really hard to make teflon stick to anything. Using metal utensils will hasten this but afaik simply using heat will help loosen the teflon coating.

I don't mind buying a new non-stick pan about every 5 years (last one lasted 7), I usuall stick to the cheapest ones, they serve a specific service to me that stainless ones can't do.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

Are you really asking "provide proofs of a pan I am warned to not heat up too much as the vapours will cause flu like symptoms and kill pet avians is bad for my health." is bad for you? It is. Why do you think you need to buy new pans every x years? Cause the non-stick layer wears off. Do bits of coating that contain top tier carciogens which are considered safe unless ingested magically vanish into the void? Yes. Except the void is your body.

I have been relying on my teflons less and less the more I get good with the stainless. I've now been making crepes and japanese omlets with less sticking than my few years old teflons.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Afaik the coating is not a carcinogen only under certain circumstances like high heat can it produce something unsafe but even there it's just potential, not yet proved to be carcinogenic but feel free to prove me wrong.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago (1 children)

https://www.cancer.org/cancer/risk-prevention/chemicals/teflon-and-perfluorooctanoic-acid-pfoa.html It says it ssafe since it's tightly bound to the pan. I guess its true, its completely 100% safe. After all, there is no reason for anyone who owns a non stick pan to ever buy a new one since they keep being nonstick for generations, right? Surely even if you treat your pan just as they say, it means the coating doesn't wear off, right? And us educated people we know once something wears via abrasion it means it leaves behind no residue, right?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago (3 children)

Are we reading the same article? It doesn't say it's bound to the pan. Why bother to choose a source that you don't read and disagrees with you?

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Heating non-stick pans beyond recommended temperatures can cause the coating to degrade, potentially releasing toxic fumes. Cooking on high heat or using metal utensils can compromise the integrity of the coating, increasing the risk of harmful substances leaching into food.

https://wellwisp.com/non-stick-pan-and-cancer/

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago (4 children)

The part you quoted says nothing about cancer, article only mentions potential risks with no evidence and no article cited. I'm sorry but articles like these are why people believe chocolate cures cancer or sitting down is as bad as smoking.

I don't claim there's no connection but so far I've seen no evidence.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

I don’r know why you’re downvoted. That’s not an unfair assessment of the article. I offered it more as inference that the release of toxins when overheating the material is releasing potentially carcinogenic toxins. I take the view that what effectively amounts to burning many materials releases carcinogens and toxins, particularly man-made materials.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I bought a cheap stainless pan about 20 years ago. Don't have issues with food sticking, don't have to worry abouy coatings coming off, and if the handle breaks I can make a new one.

Coating breaks down, stainless doesn't.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago

I have a mix of stainless steel and cast iron. I'm not terribly worried about consuming small amounts of either of those.

A bonus is that because it's all metal I can use most of it in ovens or while cooking outdoors.

Sticking isn't really that much of an issue if you're careful. I feel like non-stick would've never taken off if people knew how toxic it was in 1970.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago

Please don't hawk tuah your pans while cooking

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago

Using nonstick correctly: Don't use metal and don't heat it over 260 °C

[–] [email protected] 23 points 4 months ago

In other words don't do what I did and put half a litre into a $6 pot on your new induction cooktop and set it to 2kW to see how long it takes to boil.

It boils quick.

It then boils more enthusiastically than you've ever seen before, and a cancerous stench fills the air as the coating breaks down and the pot deforms.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (3 children)

Like throw it away every 6 months.

Edit: or 1 or 2 years, it was hyperbole. Instead of like never throwing it out?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago (1 children)

The nonstick pans I've using are several years old now without any signs of deteriorating nonstick surfaces. Use cookware out of wood or plastic to not scrape off the coating.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 4 months ago (4 children)

I have 1 big nonstick and 1 small nonstick. They never saw high heat, they never saw ANY metal instruments, when stored they are protected by felt so nothing hard touches them, they never seen a steel sponge and they still became regular stick pans 2 years into their lifespan. Before you say "skill issue buying the pan" they were mid level (expensive pans for no cooks) pans from a reputable company. I have been a pro chef as well. Nonsticks are a wear item even if you treat them like shit on a stick. My oldest stainless is like 40 years old, has a huge dent on the side and works the same as it did on day one. I dug it out of someones fishing shed.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 months ago

I have a kitchen full of nonstick pans. They’ve been in use since my grandma’s mom.

Got them from grandma.

Don’t freak out but cast iron was the OG nonstick, right?

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (2 children)

I've had mine for 2 years now. It's still non stick and I cook extremely regularly. Eg. 90% of my meals are cooked by me. I think some non stick pans are shit though because one of the ones I own started deteriorating after a year.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

If you use it incorrectly then yeah. You might as well stop making food as well because clearly you don't know what you're doing.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 4 months ago

What are you even talking about?

Are you le grand anti-adhesive chef?

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago

It is the material on the pans, but the only case where the companies making the stuff were successfully sued was when they were caught for dumping intermediates of the chemical in to a tributary of Ohio river.

It’s hard to pin down how impactful the coatings on the pans are because of how many other sources of these kinds of fluorocarbons are in house hold items, and in the environment due to large companies disposing of them recklessly. We know for a fact that basically everyone has some level of these compounds in them due to their ubiquity.

The pans are just one potential source and a particularly notable one because they’re in contact with food.

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