Nonstick pots and pans: Health effects

Are you still using nonstick cookware for waffles or frying, especially of the type you may have bought years ago? If you go into most any cookware store in Sacramento, you'll see lots of nonstick cookware on the shelves. The type of cookware also is advertised on TV infomercials. Can certain types of nonstick cookware effect the fats in your blood, your lipids? And are corporations trying to "save face?" You have people suing for multiple birth defects of babies born from women who worked in chemical firms where PFOA exposure happened.

When you have billion dollar plus companies, consumers want to know how industry can reduce public exposure to the chemical, including how companies of various types can keep their PFOA out of public drinking water, pots and pans, and the food supply. Back on January 27, 2006, eight U.S. companies, including giant DuPont Co., agreed to virtually eliminate a harmful chemical used to make Teflon from all consumer products coated with the ubiquitous nonstick material.

That leaves consumers and restaurants open to buying nonstick pots and pans in that long time period. Ironically, the chemical would still be used to manufacture Teflon and similar products. But processes will be developed to ensure that perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) would not be released into the environment from finished products or manufacturing plants.

What about the chemical being released into the food you eat that has been cooked on the nonstick surfaces at home or in eateries and restaurants that get scratched off into your food? And why are manufacturers waiting until 2015? Check out the Washington Post article, "Harmful Teflon Chemical To Be Eliminated by 2015."

PFOA is a key processing agent in making nonstick and stain-resistant materials. The problem is the chemical has been linked to cancer and birth defects in animals and is in the blood of 95 percent of Americans, including pregnant women. It has also been found in the blood of marine organisms and Arctic polar bears. It has leached into the oceans.

Worse news is that current researchers say that children and teens with higher blood levels of chemicals used in the production of non-stick cookware and waterproof fabrics appear more likely to have elevated total and LDL cholesterol levels, according to a September 2010 study. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), already has required companies in the voluntary pact to reduce manufacturing emissions of PFOA by 95 percent by the 2010 deadline. But it's 2013 already, and companies still have to reduce trace amounts of the compound in consumer products by 95 percent during the same period and virtually eliminate them by 2015.

What does that leave you with when it comes to nonstick pans. Will the PFOA materials be replaced by something you can actually validate that's safer according to testing? Or will you be handed another substitute chemical surface on your pans and pots that causes other health problems if it leaches off into your food or the rest of the environment? That's a dilemma consumers are pondering when it comes to environmental pollution protection for foods, cooking utensils, drinking water, or the soil and air. Already, genes have changed in the past 5,000 years based on what's happening in the environment from mutations in microbes to what you cook with.

We no longer have the ancient problem of lead in the drinking cups and pots. Today it's chemicals to think about that are coming on the market in newer products with various nonstick labels. Consumers want nonstick, pots, waffle machines, and frying pans more easily heated with the heat evenly distributed, and more durable cooking utensils. That's where consumer research centers weigh in.

Center for Consumer Research at University of California, Davis

Locally, the talk about nonstick cookware safety has been discussed for at least the past five to seven years. According to a 2006 Los Angeles Times article, at UC Davis in the Sacramento-Davis regional area, Christine Bruhn, director of the Center for Consumer Research at UC Davis, recalled that apple sales plummeted in the 1980s after grocery stores put up signs in their produce sections announcing that their fruit was free of the chemical Alar, used to improve the ripening and look of apples. What's going to happen to sales of non-stick cookware nowadays?

The Center for Consumer Research (CCR), focuses on consumer attitudes toward food safety and quality, according to its website. Increased information on consumer attitudes and perceptions can increase the exchange between those who provide goods and services and those who use them--like us, the public.

Consumers can look for more effective information dissemination and public policy. If you look at the local projects, they focus on consumer attitudes toward new techniques, food safety, food labeling, nutritional issues, and produce quality. But what about cookware safety in Sacramento today? How safe is nonstick cookware for children, pregnant women, the older adult, or anyone else at any time?

According to the September 6, 2010 news release, "Compounds in non-stick cookware may be associated with elevated cholesterol in children and teens," children and teens with higher blood levels of chemicals used in the production of non-stick cookware and waterproof fabrics appear more likely to have elevated total and LDL cholesterol levels, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Exposure to PFOS and PFOA compounds

Humans are exposed to the man-made compounds known as perfluoroalkyl acids—including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS)—through drinking water, dust, food packaging, breast milk, cord blood, microwave popcorn, air and occupational exposure, according to background information in the article, as reported in the news release.

Recent national survey results reported detection of PFOA and PFOS in almost all samples of human serum. Perfluoroalkyl acids are used during the manufacture of fluoropolymers, which give non-stick heat resistance to cookware and breathable, waterproof properties to fabrics and upholstery. PFOA and PFOS may also result from the breakdown of compounds used as coating for commercial food packaging, factory treatments for fabrics and carpets and manufacturer pretreatment for stain-resistant clothing.

Liver is affected by the chemical exposure to PFOA and PFOS

Animal studies have identified the liver as the primary organ affected by perfluoroalkyl acid exposure, with potential effects in human including alterations in cholesterol levels. Stephanie J. Frisbee, M.Sc., M.A., of West Virginia University School of Medicine, Morgantown, and colleagues assessed serum lipid levels in 12,476 children and adolescents (average age 11.1) included in the C8 Health Project, which resulted from the settlement of a class-action lawsuit regarding PFOA contamination of the drinking water supply in the mid–Ohio River Valley.

After enrolling in 2005 or 2006, the children and teens submitted blood samples; their average PFOA concentration was 69.2 nanograms per milliliter and average PFOS concentration was 22.7 nanograms per milliliter. Among 12- to 19-year old participants, PFOA concentrations were higher than those detected in a nationally representative survey (29.3 nanograms per milliliter vs. 3.9 nanograms per milliliter), but PFOS concentrations were similar (19.1 nanograms per milliliter vs. 19.3 nanograms per milliliter).

After adjusting for related variables, higher PFOA levels were associated with increased total cholesterol and LDL or "bad" cholesterol, and PFOS was associated with increased total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and HDL or "good" cholesterol. There was no association between either compound and triglyceride levels.

Kids with the highest PFOA levels had higher LDL cholesterol levels

On average, the one-fifth of children and teens with the highest PFOA levels had total cholesterol levels 4.6 milligrams per deciliter higher and LDL cholesterol levels 3.8 milligrams per deciliter higher than the one-fifth with the lowest PFOA levels. In addition, there was an average difference of 8.5 milligrams per deciliter in total cholesterol levels and 5.8 milligrams per deciliter in LDL cholesterol levels between the one-fifth of participants with the highest and lowest PFOS levels.

"The non-linear nature of the observed associations, particularly for PFOA, suggests a possible saturation point in an underlying physiologic mechanism," the authors write. "PFOA and PFOS specifically, and possibly perfluoroalkyl acids as a general class, appear to be associated with serum lipids, and the association seems to exist at levels of PFOA and PFOS exposure that are in the range characterized by nationally representative studies."

Although the design of the study limits cause-and-effect interpretations, the results suggest the association between PFOA and PFOS and elevated cholesterol levels warrant further study, the authors note. "Should the association prove to be etiologic, the cumulative effects of such an elevation in cholesterol on long-term cardiovascular health are unclear given the early age at which these associations were observed." For further information see the Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine. 2010;164[9]:860-869.

Center for Consumer Research at UC Davis

Current researchers say that children and teens with higher blood levels of chemicals used in the production of non-stick cookware and waterproof fabrics appear more likely to have elevated total and LDL cholesterol levels, according to a new September 2010 study.

The talk about nonstick cookware safety has been discussed for the past five years. According to a 2006 Los Angeles Times article, at UC Davis in the Sacramento-Davis regional area, Christine Bruhn, director of the Center for Consumer Research at UC Davis, recalled that apple sales plummeted in the 1980s after grocery stores put up signs in their produce sections announcing that their fruit was free of the chemical Alar, used to improve the ripening and look of apples. What's going to happen to sales of non-stick cookware nowadays?

Nonstick pans and elevated cholesterol in youth

If you look at the local projects, they focus on consumer attitudes toward new techniques, food safety, food labeling, nutritional issues, and produce quality. But what about cookware safety in Sacramento? How safe is nonstick cookware for children, pregnant women, the older adult, or anyone else at any time?

Man-made compounds

Nonstick pans may be linked to thyroid disease

Do you cook foods in non-stick frying pans rather than in stainless steel skillets? If so, check out the Jan. 21, 2010 Daily Mail news article, "Non-stick pan chemical is linked to thyroid disease," By Jenny Hope. According to the article, there's a link between a chemical found in various non-stick cookware and even food packaging that's linked to thyroid disease. The particular chemical is called PFOA. That chemical is found all over most people's homes. It has been branded as potentially carcinogenic, according to that Daily Mail article.

Some scientists are calling the chemical, PFOA into question because research which shows that those with higher levels of PFOA in their blood have higher rates of thyroid disease.There's a problem with women because females are more susceptible to thyroid problems. According to the study done, scientists that did the study are saying that women are at double the risk.

PFOA is used in industrial and consumer goods including non- stick cookware such as Teflon-coated pans - where it becomes unstable at very high temperatures - fast-food packaging, and flame-resistant and stain-resistant coatings for carpets and fabrics. Are you still using those teflon pans? According to the study, the chemical apparently gets into your body by being swallowed or breathed in. The big problem is, how are you going to detox PFOA from your bloodstream? Researchers report that there is no way of lowering levels in the blood.

Concerns over PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid) and a similar chemical PFOS since the 1990s led U.S. safety chiefs to link them to cancer. Manufacturers have agreed to phase them out by 2015. They're still on sale in most stores world wide.

When various nonstick frying pans are banned in the US, will they be shipped overseas?

When toxins from some types of non-stick frying pans get into body, does it really make it harder for you to get a flatter abdomen, or more important, do low-level, but not high-level exposures lead to thyroid disease in some but not in others?

What are the scientists looking for in blood samples from the USA, sent by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that were tested in Europe? Is there a link between non-stick pans and thyroid issues for some but not for others? Let's take a look at the latest study published in Environmental Health Perspectives, reported in the Jan. 21, 2010 issue of the Daily Mail.

PFOA exposure and changes in thyroid hormone levels studied

Researcher David Melzer, a professor of epidemiology and public health, told the Daily Mail media that: 'There have long been suspicions that PFOA concentrations might be linked to changes in thyroid hormone levels. According to the study, the scientist's analysis revealed that in the "ordinary" adult population there is a solid statistical link between higher concentrations of PFOA in blood and thyroid disease.'

The big problem is you can't get all scientists to agree on this issue. Other experts pointed to research of workers with consistently high levels of exposure to the chemical that has not found a link with thyroid disease. So as long as there are workers with high levels of exposure to PFOA in their blood who have normal thyroids, you can't really make any conclusions or really do anything.

Could other environmental or dietary issues cause thyroid disease?

Up to one in 50 people worldwide may have a condition affecting their thyroid gland. Your thyroid is in your neck. It controls the way your body metabolizes food by releasing hormones such as thyroxine. But the gland also controls your body's sensitivity to other hormones.

If something from the environment or from a disease causes you to experience hyperthyroidism, the gland is being overactive. You'll lose weight, feel anxious, and restless. Hyperthyroidism affects one in 50 women and one in 500 men. It's treated by cutting down the level of thyroid hormone in your body. Radio-iodine, surgery, or other drugs are used in treating an overactive thyroid. But if you knew what made your thyroid overactive in the first place, could you detox that pollutant from your body, if it were environmental?

The opposite, an under active thyroid, hypothyroidism, causes opposite symptoms, weight gain, constipation, and insomnia. It also can affect one in 50 women, but only one in 1,000 men. Usually, doctors prescribe a daily pill of thyroxine to replace what's missing in your body's thyroid hormone.

Where was this latest study performed? Although the blood samples came from the USA, from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the study took place at the University of Exeter and the Peninsula Medical School, in England.

Samples from almost 4,000 adults taken between 1999 and 2006 in the USA were analyzed for chemicals including PFOA and PFOS, according to the reports in the journal, Environmental Health Perspectives.

There's a problem with environmental toxins

Drugs such as an excess of Tamiflu, currently advertised during winter months on TV, that are excreted in human urine are in waste water from sewage plants. The waste water comes back into the environment in other ways, according to the article, "Concentrations of the Active Metabolite of Tamiflu in Wastewater Samples." You have so many pollutants in the environment, you don't need more pollutants from the pans used for preparing foods. It's not only your foods to think about. What are restaurants using to prepare foods by frying or baking waffles in nonstick machines?

There are pollutants coming at you from all directions. What the scientists found emphasized that people with the highest 25 per cent of PFOA concentrations were more than twice as likely to have thyroid disease than individuals with the lowest 50 per cent of PFOA concentrations. Also according to the study published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives (on PFOA and PFOS possible link to thyroid disease), 16 per cent of women in the top quarter had the disease compared with just 8 in the bottom quarter in the study. Only what wasn't known was the type of thyroid problem, whether over-active or underactive. Why didn't the scientists break down the study into hypo and hyper thyroidism?

In the past, animal studies revealed that the compounds can affect the function of the thyroid hormone system

Most people don't realize that their thyroid hormone controls their heartbeat rate, body temperature and various body functions such as metabolism, reproduction, digestion and mental health. People who get tumors on their thyroid may feel depressed and not know why the growth is causing severe depression. They might think it's emotional rather than a thyroid issue.

The need is for more research relating health problems with low-level exposures to environmental chemicals like PFOA that are in the environment and in people's homes. How can scientists arrive at any solid conclusions when workers with high-level exposures to those chemicals in question aren't showing a consistency in evidence?

They're not showing increased risk of thyroid disease

Scientists are wondering why because thyroid issues would be expected to show up in the general population with that level of exposure to the chemicals in question. Scientists want to find out why low-level or high-level exposures produce different health effects or none. Or are workers protecting themselves in high-level chemical environments?

And if so, does that mean that the average person with low-level exposure isn't protecting himself because few people know what pans and pots are safest in which to cook food? Is it safe or unsafe to breathe the air from heated frying pans--if you work in a restaurant or cook at home for hours?

It becomes a nutrition question because people tend to buy pans that don't allow food to stick instead of oiling their stainless steel pans or old-fashioned iron skillets and Dutch ovens that needed to be oiled before use to create a patina that prevents foods from sticking. Some people use glass pots and pans, but most people buy stainless steel and try to use a healthy oil for frying. But what happens when you want to make waffles? See, the site, Polytetrafluoroethylene.