this post was submitted on 15 Aug 2025
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Quite good, if you avoid the fact it's literally everywhere including the atmosphere, doesn't break down, and causes cancer. But who cares about such little things like cancer causing rain...
Teflon, on it's own is safe, the problem are the chemicals used to produce it.
Teflon doesn't cause cancer.
I mean, it might... but we haven't shown it does.
teflon itself is proved safe. its production is what's causing all the problems.
I had a waterproofing spray that said on it "Completely nontoxic ^when ^dry"
It's releasing a high amount of micro and nano plastics, and those are linked to different health issues including cancer.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969724027232
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37419366/
Oxidative stress and inflammation is cancer?
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41698-024-00554-5
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7027163/
https://biologyinsights.com/oxidative-stress-and-cancer-whats-the-connection/
https://biosignaling.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12964-023-01398-5
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6831096/
So as much as breathing, coffee and the sun cause cancer?
Again, that's from getting it to stick to things. The smaller PTFE chemicals that make it possible to suspend Teflon in water are the problem.
It's releasing a high amount of micro and nano plastics, and those are linked to different health issues including cancer.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969724027232
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37419366/
Teflon is the brand name for for the chemical Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). Making PTFE requires PFAS, which are the toxic part. Think of PFAS as little bits of chain varying lengths that get strung together to make the larger PTFE molecule.
The argument you're making sounds similar to something like "Fossil Fuels are safe, it's just the CO2 that's dangerous." PFAS contaminated water being released to the environment is an unavoidable by produce of making Teflon. You can only make Teflon as a solid without suspending the PFAS in water first.
Here's a pretty good video about the history, manufacturing process, and toxicity.
https://youtu.be/SC2eSujzrUY
I didn't read it that way at all. Their argument sounds more like "there's nuance that you're glossing over."
It seems that we all agree PFAS are generally nasty chemicals, some worse than others. Teflon (polytetrafluoroethylene) is just one of the "nicer" ones.
You can't make teflon without the PFAS though. It's like saying AIDS is completely different than HIV
no it's more like saying "desalinated water is fine, it's the brine that's problematic."
which is true.
and the same goes for teflon:
the PFAS are toxic, not teflon itself.
glossing over that distinction is disingenuous...
yes, you can't make one without the other, true, but the end product is not toxic. that's an important difference you can't just ignore in order to say teflon is toxic, because a requisite material in (cheap) production is toxic.
because that's like saying desalinated water is toxic, just because brine is toxic..which is obviously ridiculous.
There is one important note: you won't get cancer from the Teflon in your pans. You get it from the PFAS used to produce the pans. This means you don't have to throw out all your pans, as if they were made from lead and asbestos. Just make sure not to buy new ones with Teflon.
It's also what makes it cheap. Making Teflon other ways is much more expensive.