Nonstick pans contain PFAS. but they are the least of our worries. If someone is citing the pans (and crazy-of-crazy saying they are still safe to use), you know they don’t understand the breadth of the PFAS problem.

Per- And Polyfluoroalkyl Substances [PFAS] And Incident Hypertension In Multi-Racial/Ethnic Women: The Study Of Women’s Health Across The Nation, Hypertension, 13 June 2022

Conclusions: Several PFAS showed positive associations with incident hypertension. These findings suggest that PFAS might be an underappreciated contributing factor to women’s cardiovascular disease risk.

In the news:
‘Forever Chemicals’ May Raise a Woman’s Blood Pressure, USNews, 13 June 2022

“Obesity, stress and smoking are well-known risk factors for high blood pressure, and PFAS may be as important as or even more important than these factors because PFAS are widespread, and almost all people are exposed to PFAS,” said study author Sung Kyun Park. He is an associate professor of epidemiology and environmental health sciences at the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health.

This bit below drives me crazy. Whenever someone is talking about non-stick cookware, I know they have no idea what we are up against. PFAS are in the water, all water: tap, spring, bottled, well. In food, food packaging, in the soil food is grown in, in the flesh of animals we eat, in the air we breathe, in clothes, dental floss, all manner of shampoos, soaps, conditioners, lipsticks and other cosmetics. There are literally thousands of PFAS chemicals! To address just one source – and say that by limiting that source you can lower your exposure – is crazy.

“We have to think about alternatives to PFAS,” Goldberg* said. Nonstick cookware is convenient, but the coating on these pans can break down at high heat, she explained. ”Even though it is harder to clean, stainless steel or ceramic cookware can help lower exposure.”

*Dr. Nieca Goldberg is an American Heart Association spokesperson, the medical director of Atria New York City, and a clinical associate professor of medicine at New York University Grossman School of Medicine. She was not part of the study, but reviewed the findings.

It has nothing to do with heat.

And this. She said this! There is no labeling!** You can’t “read the labels carefully” if it’s not listed! This Dr. Goldberg is so out of touch. And she’s the AHA spokesperson!

You should also read the labels carefully when choosing personal care products and pick ones that are PFAS-free, she suggested.

** Fluorinated Compounds in North American Cosmetics, Ecotoxicology and Public Health, 15 June 2021

“The ingredient lists of most products tested did not disclose the presence of fluorinated compounds exposing a gap in U.S. and Canadian labeling laws.”

How can me, a nobody, know this but she, a somebody, not?