”When PTFE is heated above 450 °C the pyrolysis products are different and inhalation may cause acute lung injury. Symptoms are flu-like (chills, headaches and fevers) with chest tightness and mild cough. Onset occurs about 4 to 8 hours after exposure to the pyrolysis products of PTFE.”
There is basically no safe limit for these chemicals — EPA limit for drinking water is 4 ppt. U.S. residents already have average blood PFAS levels to the tune of 4000 ppt.
Indeed. When was the last time you left your nonstick pan sitting on a cooktop with nothing in it, for hours?
If you're the kind of person to leave empty pans burning for that long, I'd be more worried about cognitive decline and/or the risk you'll die in a fire of your own making.
These so-called perfluorochemicals are toxic to humans at single-digit parts per trillion.
If you live in the US, chances are your blood already contains these chemicals at 4,000 ppt or greater (four thousand parts per trillion is the nationwide average).
> These so-called perfluorochemicals are toxic to humans at single-digit parts per trillion.
No, they aren't. At least, not in the way you're interpreting the word "toxic".
> If you live in the US, chances are your blood already contains these chemicals at 4,000 ppt or greater
The fact that you're telling me that I'm currently thriving with 1000x the "toxic" dose you just quoted should tell you that at least one of the statements is exaggerated.
Again, there are people out there who will tell you that any exposure to certain chemicals is "toxic". These people are not worth listening to.
A pan left on the stove will turn red, and it is an accident that happens with some regularity. This issue is a lot like ground fault protectors: a rare accident that could be avoided by never interacting with a product in a certain way nonetheless occurs, and can only be eliminated through technical means. Just imagine that you're at your parent's house, and you look over at a glowing pan. Oops, you have a headache...
Old folks, with a fine case of white matter decline. Distracted folks, because the baby just threw up. Sick folks, whose processing power is a bit covided. Young folks doing stupid things, possibly on a video dare.
To quote Chris Rock: if you're old and you die in an accident, you died of old age, not "that specific accident". If your mind's going, and that makes you do something that'll kill you, your mind going is what killed you.
Or we could recognize that lapses of judgement are something every human is capable of and demand such outrageous things that our cookware remains safe at any temperature a reasonable stovetop can produce. Really it shouldn't just be safe but also not break the cookware.
Tell me you haven't had a baby without telling me you haven't had a baby.
You are fucking 10x more aware of bullshit you're doing just to keep baby safe. Probably more like 100x, really. Nothing focusses your mind like having CREATED A HUMAN THAT MUST BE KEPT SAFE AT ALL COST.
I'm confused by your interest in shifting the discussion away from the company that has enough money and lawyers to know better, and back towards anyone but them.
I don't think a regular stovetop can get a pan to 450°C, my gas stove gets an empty pan to about 300°C maximum. It doesn't happen in normal situations, if it happens it probably means you forgot your pan on the stove. Heating Teflon at 300°C for several hours is bad, but personally, in that situation, I would worry more about causing a house fire.
Teflon flu is a thing, but it is relatively rare, especially considering how widespread Teflon pans are. That's a few hundred cases per year in the US, by comparison, there are about 1000x more house fire, with cooking equipment being a leading cause.
