Super Slippery Lies

DuPont, makers of Teflon, have been lying for almost fifty years now about the dangers of their product. Perfluorooctanoic acid is a nasty little compound which accumulates in the body, and causes serious health problems like cancer, liver damage and birth defects. Too often we rely on coporations to be their own whistle blowers, especially when it comes to the chemical industry. It isn't just a problem found in a creek next to the plant either, exposure to Perfluorooctanoic acid has now been documented worldwide. We have been told the effects of Teflon were poorly understood, but apparently this is a blatant lie in the face of new evidence which suggests that DuPont has understood the risks for decades. In 1961, DuPont advised their coporate executives (not their employess or customers mind you) to avoid human contact with Perfluorooctanoic acid. So instead of warning the public, or finding more appropriate uses for this deadly toxin, they decide to market it to cooking ware companies. Somebody needs to burn their arses, and this is a shinning example of how coporations go above and beyond the law, at the expense of health and humanity. Thank god somebody is bringing this to legal action...
Teflon is deadly poisonous. We were told by those who profit from it that we could cook with it. Any questions?

www.truthout.org...
One document detailed how DuPont scientists started warning company executives to avoid human contact with PFOA as early as 1961. Industry tests later determined the chemical accumulates in the body, doesn't break down in the environment and causes ailments in animals, including cancer, liver damage and birth defects....
If found guilty of illegally withholding information by an administrative law judge, DuPont could face more than $300 million in fines - about $100 million more than the company is estimated to make each year from products manufactured with PFOA....
DuPont already has agreed to pay up to $345 million to settle another lawsuit filed on behalf of 60,000 West Virginians and Ohioans whose drinking water is contaminated with PFOA. Much of what the public is starting to learn about the chemical comes from industry documents submitted during court proceedings.

[edit on 22-1-2005 by twitchy]

Nothing beats a cast iron skillet.

Yeah, you have to scrub a little more, but I dare you to make good scrambled eggs in a teflon skillet...you just can't do...they taste industrial or something.

I stay away from teflon coated cookware whenever possible. I have for years, ever since I noticed it flakes off - which wasn't long after it came out. I truly prefer not to have coating material in my food.

Amen, it has been shown in a couple studies I have read that using cast iron cook ware actually adds dietary iron to your body as well. Folks should have known something was up when we were told to throw away teflon coated cookware when it started flaking. The information that teflon caused cancer is not new, but that information went down the same toliet as the research about cell phones. Convienence often outweighs risks, right up until your doctor tells you he has some bad news.

After I dug into teflon I started paying more attention to my cookware, and found we had teflon chipping away into our food, so we quit using them right away though I'm sure we ingested some. If you have any teflon cookware in your kitchen you'd do well to get rid of it and write the company a letter to express your concerns. Maybe they'll send you some free stuff to appease you

Cast Iron is great, especially since a bit of it comes off in your food. Extra Iron!

Glad to see this resurfaced, I remember it well. Also glad to see you actually did something with your convictions!

Originally posted by twitchy
If you have any teflon cookware in your kitchen you'd do well to get rid of it and write the company a letter to express your concerns. Maybe they'll send you some free stuff to appease you

Yup..They promised to send in more teflon coated pans j/k

I have been using Teflon coated pans for ages (for washing and cooking convinience). I dont know if my stomach lining is teflon coated by now.

Anyway, doesn't iron overload cause Hemochromatosis. Sigh! The decisions I need to make Iron or Teflon

Originally posted by Valhall
Nothing beats a cast iron skillet.

Yeah, you have to scrub a little more, but I dare you to make good scrambled eggs in a teflon skillet...you just can't do...they taste industrial or something.

I stay away from teflon coated cookware whenever possible. I have for years, ever since I noticed it flakes off - which wasn't long after it came out. I truly prefer not to have coating material in my food.

Good post Twitchy, I concur with Valhall and good reply

Is there any way you can know if your cookware has teflon in it? I'm pretty sure my family doesn't have teflon cookware, but it would be nice to be sure. The stuff we have is probably 20 years old, if that makes any difference.

Originally posted by DragonsDemesne
Is there any way you can know if your cookware has teflon in it? I'm pretty sure my family doesn't have teflon cookware, but it would be nice to be sure. The stuff we have is probably 20 years old, if that makes any difference.

I suppose the packaging when you buy it would say it. Odds are they'll advertise it. As for old stuff, I have no idea, I just eat the food.

Same here. I can't tell whether my cookware is teflon or porcelain. Can someone help?
Edit:Thanks for above user, but my cw is too old for me to have any packages of it. There goes the kitchen sink...

[edit on 5/22/2005 by Lifeadventurer]

Ya, aside from ciggarettes, exost, pestasides, fast food (obeasity), caffene, and Bush; if this is an american product, than were lookin pretty good.

Check out this website

For the past fifty years DuPont has claimed that their Teflon coatings do not emit hazardous chemicals through normal use. In a recent press release, DuPont wrote that "significant decomposition of the coating will occur only when temperatures exceed about 660 degrees F (340 degrees C). These temperatures alone are well above the normal cooking range.

In new tests conducted by a university food safety professor, a generic non-stick frying pan preheated on a conventional, electric stovetop burner reached 736°F in three minutes and 20 seconds, with temperatures still rising when the tests were terminated. A Teflon pan reached 721°F in just five minutes under the same test conditions (See Figure 1), as measured by a commercially available infrared thermometer.

I am not sure how accurate these results are, but they do not present a pretty picture.

[edit on 22-5-2005 by Quake]

If you don't know what teflon look slike you can recognise the cooking ware form of it by it's slick black, often glossy appearance. It will be on the inside of the cookware. Also most cookware has a logo or name usually on the bottom of the pan, just google the name of the company with teflon adn I'm sure you will find a site somewhere bragging about it's non-stick ability.
Also I wanted to add that most of the major league fast food restraunts use clamshell grills, the tops of which are covered with a thin film of teflon sheeting which has to be changed regularly because it wears out and flakes off on the food product. I have seen this first hand in alot of my first jobs at McSweatshop and other restraunts. Maybe flame broiled is better.



This is a smaller version of the same type of grill used by most of the major fast food restraunts for hamburgers... I have literally scraped burger patties off a burnt surface of teflon and sent them on out to customers. Nobody thought nothing of it, because it is "meant to be cooked with"...

www.mercola.com...
Dupont recently defended its position about partially complying with federal reporting guidelines on the health risks of a key ingredient found in Teflon.

The chemical giant has been criticized on many sides for its decision not to release all the information it compiled on perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a soap-like ingredient used in making non-stick surfaces and materials. As a result, EPA has sought fines up to $300 million, arguing the company failed to inform the government and public about PFOA. The concerns:

DuPont concealed its own 1981 research showing traces of the chemical in a pregnant worker’s unborn child
Ten years later, the company failed to report evidence that the chemical had contaminated the water supply of 12,000 people

The son of a DuPont factory worker who was born with only one nostril and other facial defects (he has had 30 operations) is one of eight families suing the company over PFOA. Although the man recently married, he and his spouse have opted not to have children in case they inherit his condition....

Another health issue, “Teflon flu” causes aches and pains when non-stick pans are overheated, although a DuPont spokesperson said the physical problems are temporary and pass quickly. Yet birds, particularly small ones like finches and cockatiels, can die in short order from those kitchen fumes.

A British environmental minister has said his country will eventually ban one chemical associated with PFOA, perfluorooctane sulphonate, along with other European countries and in line with the United States. One expert on perfluorinated polymers noted the PFOA in Teflon to be potentially as harmful as perfluorooctane sulphonate, pointing out that PFOA has been recognized as a rat carcinogen for decades.

Dupont knew before they started selling this crap to cookware companies that it was a carcinogen, and that makes my conspiracy bone start itching up a storm. Call me paranoid if you like, but I don't think intentional marketing of dietary aspartame and teflon and flouride and a holy host of other poisons are completely profit related.

Originally posted by Quake
Anyway, doesn't iron overload cause Hemochromatosis. Sigh! The decisions I need to make Iron or Teflon

Actually No. It doesn't CAUSE hemochromatosis, but if you have that disorder, then extra iron in any form is not for you. It's a genetic disease, not something caused by food you eat or what you cook in. Your body stores too much iron with hemochromatosis, and even a normal consumption can cause your ferritin levels to rise and result in liver damage. If you're normal, extra iron is still not stored by the body and is excreted. If you're not someone who suffers from hemochromatosis, then enjoy that iron skillet. For what its worth, hemochromatosis is usually found in those of western European descent, and can cause liver damage, kidney damage, and your skin turns a lovely bronze. A common treatment is frequent blood donations. Once or twice a week to start, then once weekly, then once monthly or more to maintain a low ferritin level.

Originally posted by RedBalloon
Actually No. It doesn't CAUSE hemochromatosis, but if you have that disorder, then extra iron in any form is not for you. It's a genetic disease, not something caused by food you eat or what you cook in.

True.... Thanks for the correction...

I wanted to say haemosiderosis. I don't know if it can occur by cooking on iron skillets.

Bantu haemosiderosis occurs in the Bantu population in Southern Africa. This is due to the fact that beer is kept in ungalvanised barrels, leading to increased oxidation and increased iron levels in the beer.

See MOM!! I never would have passed Med school

Originally posted by RedBalloon
Actually No. It doesn't CAUSE hemochromatosis, but if you have that disorder, then extra iron in any form is not for you. It's a genetic disease, not something caused by food you eat or what you cook in.

True.... Thanks for the correction...

I wanted to say haemosiderosis. I don't know if it can occur by cooking on cast iron skillets.

Bantu haemosiderosis occurs in the Bantu population in Southern Africa. This is due to the fact that beer is kept in ungalvanised barrels, leading to increased oxidation and increased iron levels in the beer.

Good I never went to the Med school


[edit on 23-5-2005 by Quake]

A major lawsuit has been filed against DuPont, this was in the news today...

Suit Being Filed Against DuPont Over Teflon
Tuesday, July 19, 2005 1:02 PM EDT
The Associated Press
By JOHN HEILPRIN

A $5 billion class-action lawsuit is being filed against DuPont Co. saying the chemical giant long failed to warn consumers on the dangers of a Teflon chemical.

Two Florida law firms said Tuesday they were filing the suit in federal courts in eight states on behalf of 14 people who bought and used cookware with the nonstick Teflon. It is made using perfluorooctanoic acid and its salts, known as PFOA, or C-8.

The plaintiffs want DuPont to spend $5 billion to replace the cookware, impose a Teflon warning label and create two funds to pay for medical monitoring and more scientific research, said Alan Kluger of Miami-based Kluger, Peretz, Kaplan & Berlin, P.L.

PFOA also is used in many other of the company's most popular products, such as auto fuel systems, firefighting foam, phone cables, computer chips and clothing.

www.boston.com

As my own research as shown here on this thread, they have known about the toxicity of Teflon for alot longer than 20 years, so interesting a law suit would mitigate it's own implications. DuPont is the epitome of a typical above the law Coporation and perhaps this lawsuit will serve as an example to some of the other chemical industry that people aren't so powerless afterall. But the bottom line here is that Teflon is evil, they knew it was, and they sold it to cookware companies anyway. Like Flouride, Aspartame, MSG and so many other toxic crap they pump into us, I'm glad to see at least one of these brought to face Civil Law.

Mod edit: Added Link To Quote

[edit on 28/2/2006 by Mirthful Me]

Looks like the EPA is finally getting into the act...

Source
EPA Board Says Teflon Chemical a Likely Carcinogen
By Randall Chase
The Associated Press
Thursday 16 February 2006
Dover, Delaware - A group of scientific advisers to the Environmental Protection Agency voted unanimously Wednesday to approve a recommendation that a chemical used in the manufacture of Teflon and other nonstick and stain-resistant products should be considered a likely carcinogen.

Well duh. Thirty years later and this is some sudden revelation? Given Dupont's coporate muscle, it will be interesting to see where these reccomendations go, most likely nowhere.

Mod Edit: New External Source Tags – Please Review This Link.

[edit on 28/2/2006 by Mirthful Me]

There's a great article posted on this here.
Dupont was supposed to phase the chemical out, but apparently, it was a lot of hot air.

Source
The truth about this family of chemicals emerged only after DuPont was hit with lawsuits for poisoning drinking water for tens of thousands of people in West Virginia and Ohio. DuPont paid a record $16.5 million fine for hiding the alarming truth that C8/PFOA chemicals were linked to cancer and birth defects. DuPont promised to phase the chemical out by the end of this year but the company continues to hide behind confidentiality and trade secrets to keep the public in the dark....

According to the U.S. Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention, PFCs contaminate the blood of virtually every American alive today. They are found in animals in the most remote corners of the world, and lab tests have found that they are even passed to babies still in the womb.

“We can’t shop our way out of this problem,” said Dave Andrews Ph.D., a senior scientist at EWG and coauthor of the report. “PFCs are used too often and too widely in many consumer products. They have been associated with host of health problems including kidney and testicular cancer, high cholesterol and obesity.”

Edit:
To add a pun, I guess the millions in civil liabilities and the public health alerts just didn't stick.