Teflon Cooking utensils

[Guest guest]

We have discussed this before and here is " the latest. "

The EPA has asked eight manufacturers to cease production of perfluorooctanoic

acid

(PFOA), a suspected carcinogen used in the making of Teflon. The manufacturers

have

been requested to reduce PFOA production 95 percent by 2010, and stop using it

altogether by 2015.

In Most People's Blood

PFOA is currently used to make water- and grease-proof products, including

microwave

popcorn bags, non-stick cookware, and upholstery. It is found in the blood of

upwards of

95 percent of Americans, and it has been linked to cancer in animal studies.

DuPont

DuPont, which has announced it will comply with the voluntary guidelines, has

been the

focus of the investigations into the risks of PFOA. The company has paid over

$16 million

for fines and other payments in the wake of charges that it had hidden

information about

the dangers of PFOA.

USA Today January 26, 2006

[Guest guest]

>

> PFOA is not actually in the Teflon. It is used to make some Teflon, the danger

was to the

factory workers and for the contamination of the water supply. However, there

are 15

chemicals in Teflon that offgas, and the only studies of their relative safety

are those that

Dupont have conducted themselves. As Dupont has said, in the past, that PFOA

poised no

danger to living things, and they obviously were wrong, we have no idea the

effect of these

other 15 chemicals, that are actually IN the Teflon, and offgas at certain

temperatures, we

have no idea what effect this has on human health. Since Dupont's own studies

are not

released to the public, that means we have to rely on the FDA to make a review

of the

studies. As we can see, the FDA in the USA has no idea if these 15 offgasing

chemicals are

safe for living things, just like PFOA didn't raise any red flags for them until

now. In other

words, until there is a problem there is no problem.

>

> I don't know which of these issues we should be more paranoid about! Aren't

we tired

of being guinea pigs?

>

I can't go near Teflon.

Carol F.