December 6th, 2011
Non-stick cookware, once hailed as a space-age wonder, has fallen into disfavor, as those wondrous non-stick coatings have been revealed to be unhealthy for humans and the environment.
Teflon, and similar non-stick coatings that relied on perfluorochemicals (PFCs), were safe when used as instructed, according to their makers. But these slippery products, which provided a marvelous landing pad for fried eggs, turned out to be amazingly sticky in less positive ways in the outside world.
Scientists say that the PFCs used in these coatings persist as pollution in waterways and landfills. The chemicals have been found in human blood samples and implicated as carcinogenic. No one knows when, if ever, they’ll biodegrade.
Barbara Kessler
Andrew Winston
Danielle Nierenberg
Anthony Swift
