Teflon is a substance commonly found in households, for example, in frying pans and other products used for cooking. What is not often discussed is that frying pans and other products with a Teflon surface can reach a temperature within two to five minutes that causes the Teflon surface to break down and emit toxic particles and gases. In the USA, these toxic substances have been linked to hundreds of pet deaths and nausea in humans.
Dupont, the manufacturer of Teflon frying pans, themselves admit that Teflon heated on ordinary stoves can cause flu-like symptoms. Tests by a professor of food safety from the USA have found that several highly toxic substances are emitted when Teflon pans are heated, and this occurs during cooking on regular stoves.
Among these substances, some at low doses can be lethal to humans. At slightly higher temperatures, which can be reached in some types of Teflon pans, the chemical warfare agent PFIB and a substance similar to phosgene (COF2), which was used as a chemical weapon during World War II, are emitted.
The list of dangerous substances formed when heating Teflon pans can be made very long. For example, very small particles that cause severe lung damage in mice within ten minutes are formed upon heating. Furthermore, tetrafluoroethylene, which causes cancer in mice, and hexafluoropropene, which can lead to eye and throat irritation, headaches, irregular heart rhythm, and death, are also formed.
The fact that it is permissible to use these Teflon pans that release so many toxic particles and gases is alarming.
Warning for Teflon
