Dangers of Conventional Cookware

You probably already know a little about what healthy foods to eat and what toxic foods to avoid, but have you ever given your cookware any thought?

Are you currently using nontoxic cookware? I have to warn you — the products you’re using to cook healthy food on a daily basis just may be toxic!

We live in the age of convenience and the age of fast. We don’t even want to be bothered taking the time to melt some butter or coconut oil on our pans so food doesn’t stick so we opt for nonstick cookware.

Some of the most popular and widely used brands of cookware are nonstick and known to contain a chemical that has been linked to major health concerns including cancer.

I’m sure you’ll agree that using unhealthy cookware to cook healthy food simply doesn’t make any sense.

Are you being poisoned by your cookware?

Let’s take a look at the toxic cookware you should be avoiding and the safest cookware you should start using instead today!

Why Cookware Is Important (Hint: Don’t Be Cheap!)

You may be thinking that your pots and pans do the job they need to do or they were pricey so they have to be good, but are you actually using healthy cookware?

For example, do you know that using nonstick pots and pans to heat your food could be putting your health in danger?

It’s true. Nonstick cookware pretty much always contains a man made chemical called perfluoro octanoic acid, also known as PFOA or C8. According to the American Cancer Society, “PFOA has the potential to be a health concern because it can stay in the environment and in the human body for long periods of time.

Studies have found that it is present worldwide at very low levels in just about everyone’s blood.” Animal studies have also presented a link between PFOA exposure and cancer development.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “In laboratory animals given large amounts, PFOA can affect growth and development, reproduction, and injure the liver.” So in addition to cancer concerns, we’re talking about some other highly serious health repercussions including liver damage, infertility, and delays in growth and development.

Nonstick cookware and its PFOA content is just one main example of why I want to urge you to reconsider the cookware you’re using. Many people think it will be a burden to get rid of their cookware and replace it all. But I ask you to consider the burden associated with cancers and other serious health problems being linked to toxic cookware products.

Health Dangers Are Real

Unfortunately, if you go into a department store these days, it’s going to be very easy to pick up a pot or pan that may potentially be dangerous to your health. These are some of the most dangerous cookware options that I recommend avoiding completely:

• Nonstick cookware is by far one of the most concerning forms of cookware. In just two to five minutes on a conventional stovetop, nonstick cookware containing perfluorochemicals can exceed temperatures that cause a break down in its coating and hence the release of toxic particles and gases linked to bird deaths and human illnesses, according to tests commissioned by the Environmental Working Group (EWG).
• Aluminum cookware is known for being highly reactive and leaching into food. I would avoid cookware with any type of aluminum as a cooking surface including nonstick anodized aluminum and ceramic nonstick aluminum.
• Speckled metal bakeware and enamel cast iron skillets have also been shown to leach aluminum.

Toxic cookware made from materials like these may lead to all kinds of seriously concerning health problems including:

1. Child Developmental Delays

According to a UCLA study led by Chunyuan Fei, prenatal exposure to perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) has been linked to developmental delays in offspring. The study found that mothers with higher levels of PFOAs in their blood have toddlers and babies who are less likely to reach developmental milestones early.

2. High Cholesterol

Research has shown that the chemicals used to make nonstick cookware may lead to some major health concerns. For example, high cholesterol has now been linked to cookware chemicals. A study of 12,000 children living in Ohio and West Virginia were tested for blood levels of the PFOA and PFOS (the two chemicals commonly found in non stick cookware). The researchers observed that the children with the highest levels of these two toxic chemicals also were more likely to have abnormally high levels of both total cholesterol and LDL “bad” cholesterol.

3. Neurotoxicity

Aluminum is often used in cookware because it is able to conduct heat quickly.

What’s the problem?

Aluminum can leach very easily, especially when it is exposed to heat and/or acidic foods.

According to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry,

Eating large amounts of processed food containing aluminum additives or frequently cooking acidic foods in aluminum pots may expose a person to higher levels of aluminum than a person who generally consumes unprocessed foods and uses pots made of other materials (e.g., stainless steel or glass).

Aluminum’s controversial relationship with Alzheimer’s disease has resulted in many scientific studies evaluating a possible relationship between aluminum accumulation in the body and neurotoxicity. To be on the safe side, I would avoid aluminum cookware including nonstick anodized aluminum and ceramic nonstick aluminum. And as I already mentioned, speckled metal bakeware and enamel cast iron skillets have also been shown to leach aluminum.

4. Thyroid Issues, Liver Inflammation and Weakened Immune System

There are some other major reasons to avoid nonstick cookware containing perfluorochemicals that can be leached into the food you eat. According to the EWG, “Perfluorochemicals are associated with smaller birth weight and size in newborn babies, elevated cholesterol, abnormal thyroid hormone levels, liver inflammation, and weaker immune defense against disease.”

5. Allergies and Flu-Like Symptoms

According to Olga Naidenko, a senior scientist at EWG, nonstick pans can produces toxic fumes that can create allergies and flu-like symptoms for users.

6. Cancer

If this list wasn’t bad enough already, cancer has to be included as well. Scientific research is demonstrating a possible link between PFOA and cancer.

The American Cancer Society points out:

Studies in lab animals have found exposure to PFOA increases the risk of certain tumors of the liver, testicles, mammary glands (breasts), and pancreas in these animals. In general, well-conducted studies in animals do a good job of predicting which exposures cause cancer in people.

References

https://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/05/23/dangerous-kitchenware-lurking-in-your-home.html

https://www.ewg.org/release/toxic-truth-about-new-generation-nonstick-and-waterproof-chemicals#.WlmOBKhsaNR

https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-causes/teflon-and-perfluorooctanoic-acid-pfoa.html

https://www.cdc.gov/biomonitoring/pfoa_factsheet.html

https://www.ewg.org/research/canaries-kitchen#.WlmO6qhsaNR

https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/11277/

https://www.webmd.com/children/news/20100907/high-cholesterol-linked-to-cookware-chemicals#1

https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/phs/phs.asp?id=1076&tid=34

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16227186

https://www.ewg.org/news/videos/ewg-teflon-can-create-negative-side-effects#.WlmQkKhsaNR

The information on this POST is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional advice .All content, including text, graphics, images and information, contained on or available through this article is for general information purposes / educational purposes only, and to ensue discussion or debate.

Thank you … Stainless steel cookware is considered to be another safe choice.This cookware gets its name because of its ability to resist corrosion. The surface of stainless steel does not flake, so pieces of the material do not break off and contaminate your food like with most non-stick cookware.

Glass containers

Take a rain check on your Tupperware parties and invest in some durable glass food containers.Glass containers are considered the safest option, as they do not leach any chemicals into your food and are microwave safe.

Cutting boards

Although there is some debate on which types of cutting boards are better and more hygienic, plastic cutting boards are not the safest option.The best wooden cutting boards are made from bamboo, but any wood board is still better than plastic.

Bamboo and hard wood have natural antibacterial properties. Although the knife cuts on these boards still provide a place for bacteria to hide, once the bacteria goes down into the crevice they die off slowly.

Let’s read your comments …we will be all the wiser !