Non-Stick Cookware Alternatives – an Infographic

We are not separate from our environment.

This is why taking care of our homes through eliminating unnecessary toxins is so important. We willingly give our energy to properly sourcing our food, thus how we prepare our meals deserves the same care and attention.

Do you question how easy it is to clean the eggs off your non-stick pan? Probably not because it is so easy. However, the toxic load associated with that non-stick surface is not worth the ease of cleaning.

All non-stick pans are not created equally. The research on some of the newer versions of non-stick has not been completed yet. However, we do know that teflon coated pans do not belong in our kitchens.

Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) or Teflon was accidentally discovered in 1938 and applied to cooking pans to give them their non-stick surface. They immediately caught on because they are so very easy to clean. Exposure to PTFEs can cause flu-like symptoms and a build up in the lungs following exposure to fumes produced from over-heating teflon products. In other words, it’s not worth it!

Luckily there are alternatives! Below is a guide to choosing non-toxic cookware and why it’s important. Please feel free to share this guide with friends that are using non-stick pans to prepare food for their families. For continued Gentle Leaps inspiration subscribe to the newsletter!

Sources:
1 “Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB).” U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search2/r?dbs hsdb:@term @rn 9002-84-0.
2 “Household Products Database – Health and Safety Information on Household Products.” U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/household/brands?tbl=chem&id=306&query=ptfe&searchas=TblChemicals1&prodcat=all.
3 “Environmental Factors Student Guide.” Nutritional Therapy Association , 2019.
4 The History of Teflon, www.chemours.com/Teflon/en_US/products/history.html.