Bart Maes

Non-stick pans are another feature of the era in which we thought that fats only fattened us up. These days we know better. Healthy fats are a must for our health and a must for a slim body. We even need twice as many healthy fats as proteins. So a portion of healthy oil or fat in your pan will do you good. Get rid of your non-stick pan!

You should avoid non-stick pans at all costs. They are extremely poisonous.

1. Applying an non-stick layer required an extremely complex chemical process. Because it’s not that evident to stick an non-stick layer to the bottom of a pan. The production of these pans is also a polluting industry. Manu- facturer DuPont has already agreed to pay USD 345 million in damages to 60,000 inhabitants of West Virginia and Ohio to compensate for the pollution of tap water with PFOA, a chemical compound used in the production of Teflon.
2. And as everyone will have guessed: Using these pans means particles of the non- stick layer end up in our food. Because regardless of what manufacturers may say, these pans do wear out and quickly. Even if you use them correctly and you try to pre- vent scratching, they do wear out and particles end up in your food and your body.
3. Many people have no idea that using Teflon pans releases extremely toxic gases. During the holidays more canaries and parrots die as families pull out their Teflon gourmet sets. In the past mine workers used canaries to check air quality in the mines. Their small lung capacity means that these birds are much more sensitive to toxins. Hence their use by mine workers. If the canary became ill or died, things became quite dangerous for mine workers. Non-stick gases such Polytetrafluorethylene re leased by Teflon cause lung haemorrhages and are often deadly for canaries. That is why non-stick pans are silent killers because you don’t notice them. Extremely toxic non-stick layers include DuPont’s Teflon brand, as well as Silverstone, Fluron, Supra, Excalibur, Greblon, Xylon, Duracote, Resistal, Autograph and T-Fal. A little bit of fat or oil in a stainless steel pan or in an enamelled pan is much healthier and much less taxing for the environment.

The extremely toxic fumes of the non-stick pan

TEFLON FEVER? An employee of DuPont Dordrecht recently explained the nature of Teflon fever to me. The Dordrecht factories used Teflon powder. If a residue of this powder is still on your fingers, even if it is only a tiny amount, and you go out to smoke a cigarette, then you will experience Teflon vibrations. As a result of the cigarette’s heat the Teflon powder will start to decompose and extremely toxic fumes will come about. For the next quarter of an hour you will experience tremors, start shaking, shivering throughout your body. Once the non-stick layer is heated, its structure changes. In two to five minutes a non-stick pan will heat up to such an extent that the non-stick layer releases toxins and toxic fumes will be disseminated…The longer you use them, the faster they will be damaged. As the pan is heated, fumes are released, which en-ter your food as well as the air in the room. (Anti-stick pans can become toxic in a very short time, if you set them on the hob, without any food in them. The odour released as a result will make you catch your breath). DuPont recognizes that Teflon fumes are deadly for birds, but add that ‘so much is deadly’. Scientists at DuPont admit that Teflon’s polymeric gases can cause fever, fatigue, shortness of breath, headaches, colds and a heavy sensation in the chest at temperatures ranging between 24 to 26°C. But opponents of non-stick pans are more adamant. The toxins and toxic fumes released when using non-stick pans include: TFEs, carcinogenic; HFPs, reduce immunity and causes liver problems; TFAs, contributes to osteoporosis and weight problems, fattens the liver, babies store up to 2 to 6 times more of this than their mothers; DFAs, extremely toxic for kidneys; MFAs, extremely toxic, causes an irregular heartbeat and is even deadly between 0.7 and 2.1mg/kg.; PFOAs, cannot be broken down by the environment and can be found in 92% of all humans; will even kill cows if they ingest polluted food or water; SIF4, especially toxic for the lung function; PFIB, especially toxic for the lung function; COF2, is also used in chemical warfare and irritates the eyes, nose and ears; HF, causes fatigue, an irregular heartbeat, reduces the intake of calcium and can cause death in high doses; CF3COF, enlarges the liver and raises blood glucose levels; OFCB, causes an irregular heartbeat, unconsciousness and in high doses even death; CF4, heats the world 6,000 times faster than carbon dioxide and stays in the environment for 50,000 more years; C-8, carcinogenic: higher levels of this substance are found in the children’s blood.