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After I learned about the harmful effects of Teflon, I became much more cautious about consumption. It's nearly impossible to avoid the toxins when eating out b
by whoitwas 2y ago
After I learned about the harmful effects of Teflon, I became much more cautious about consumption. It's nearly impossible to avoid the toxins when eating out because wax has been replaced with synthetics that leach into food from packaging.
Just use metal wood or glass. One thing I'm not aware of is if Pyrex or the other tempered glasses are safe or if they also contain plastic. That would be good to learn.
- burnt-resistor 2y agoModern Pyrex is ordinary glass, mostly, and sometimes strengthened glass. Old Pyrex was borosilicate glass.
- moolcool 2y agoPyrex the brand switched to soda lime glass in North America, but you can still find borosilicate glass kitchenware from different vendors.
- quesera 2y ago> Modern Pyrex ... Old Pyrex Most conveniently differentiated by the branding on the product. All caps "PYREX" is the classic (high quality) borosilicate stuff. Titlecased "Pyrex" is the modern ordinary glass stuff.
- methyl 2y agoFrom what I know, Teflon is neutral as long as you don't overheat it and breathe in the gas. Can you point some sources stating otherwise?
- ndsipa_pomu 2y agoTeflon itself is not the issue (unless it goes over about 260°C), but the PFAs which should have been phased out of modern non-stick coatings. The problem is if the surface is scratched from using metal utensils or scourers as this can cause PFAs to leach into the food. https://www.consumerreports.org/toxic-chemicals-substances/you-cant-always-trust-claims-on-non-toxic-cookware-a4849321487/ https://www.consumerreports.org/toxic-chemicals-substances/y...
- pards 2y agoRegardless of the health concerns that arise from using Teflon, the industrial process used to produce it has caused significant issues that were covered in the documentary "The Devil We Know"[0]. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Devil_We_Know https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Devil_We_Know
- whoitwas 2y agoIt's not possible to fry in a safe range. The safe range is <500F. I use pans at a greater temperature than that for frying. Additionally, when the pans wear the surface degrades and becomes your food. This probably always occurs, but more when the products wear.
- kelipso 2y agoAlso the vaporization of teflon is probably not a step function but a curve, and they set the safety range at some threshold. So in all likelihood you are inhaling who knows what at even the safe ranges.
- relaxing 2y agoTempered glass does not contain plastic. No glass contains plastic. The formula to make glass has been known for centuries. Tempering is a thermal process, it doesn’t change the chemistry of the product. Old school pyrex involved the addition of Boron —- no hydrocarbons in the mix.
- nextlevelwizard 2y agoDoes any of this matter in a normal life? Will I actually see actual difference if I throw away all my cook ware and replace it with non-non-stick ones and wooden utensils? What about pollutants in the air from car and industry exhaust? Is this cookware worse? Should we first consider moving somewhere else than worry about cookware? What about just the ingredients you cook with? Is using teflon worse than buying highly processed foods? What about GMO vs non-GMO? What about grass fed/free range vs in-prison-meats? What about vegan vs meat? What I am trying to say is that it is easy to point to something that is (or even might be) toxic and say that we should fix it, but we have to put things in context. You simply can not be afraid of everything. Like drinking out of plastic vs glass vs metal, I know people who swear that drinking from a plastic cup is about the worst thing you can do, but I have been doing it my whole life and at least aren't dead yet.
- whoitwas 2y agoThere are many things to consider and it's up to each individual. It can become exhausting if you choose to continue to learn and grow, but if you don't ... what are you doing?
- kelipso 2y agoThere are still people who use plastic electric kettles. It's crazy out there.
- nextlevelwizard 2y agoJust living my life. If I live a year less because of my cookware then so be it.
- whoitwas 2y agoI don't think it's like that. These substances cause nasty forms of cancer and are easily avoidable. I don't understand the purpose of Teflon other than to poison people. It's really odd how people follow even when they admit they're killing themselves for no benefit. Other than to fit in.
- _yb2s 2y agoA lot of vintage glass things including Pyrex contain high levels of lead. I need to look into it more, but it seems to be from paint or colors added, and clear glass items are likely fine.
- kevin_thibedeau 2y agoI have some old glazed ceramic plates that I won't use any more. One of them developed a crack half way through and I noticed that, in the microwave, food on it would stay frozen but the plate would be blazing hot. The glaze was conductive with presumably lead and was absorbing all the energy. The crack created a slot that blocked eddy currents.
- Workaccount2 2y agoStuff today is still using ceramics with lead. Importers don't give a f about lead poisoning when it's a race to the bottom for cost.
- regularfry 2y agoIf you want to have proper vintage glass fun, https://www.reddit.com/r/uraniumglass/ https://www.reddit.com/r/uraniumglass/ is endlessly entertaining.
- frmersdog 2y agoI never use glass for cooking. I've had two Pyrex dishes explode on me. One was contained in an oven, thankfully, so that all that was lost was a week's worth of chicken. The other, unfortunately, shattered in the "kitchen" of my studio apartment, 5 feet from my bed. I had to spend the next hour using a flashlight to try to find and pick up the tiny shards that had flown everywhere.
- NoMoreNicksLeft 2y ago> One thing I'm not aware of is if Pyrex or the other tempered glasses are safe or if they also contain plastic. They're glass. They don't contain this. In particular, oven-safe glass is supposed to be of the borosilicate variety... but about 20 years ago manufacturing was moved to China (haha!). They're not properly formulated or tempered anymore, and in many cases not oven safe. They tend to shatter with large temperature changes, spilling hot casseroles over people who aren't in the habit of having steaming hot casserole showers and then complain about those. > Just use metal wood or glass. I like those materials, but think of the damage you're doing to the CPI with your advice. How would we combat inflation if we weren't able to constantly substitute in cheaper packaging materials and so forth?