Teflon - The Cookware That Causes Harm To Its Consumer

Teflon refers to a marketing name that was used to refer to the coating material that is widely used in cookware around the world. Despite being quite popular, many are unaware of the history of how this material was created aside from its huge risks to one's health when used in cooking.

Let us learn a little history of how Teflon was created and how this popular material poses health risks that have been proven. Some of you might not realize this material is present in some of your cookware at home.

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Its Discovery By Accident

Teflon was found in 1938 by a chemist named Roy Plunkett while he was researching a cooling substance based on chlorofluorocarbons(CFC) for its use in a freezer. At the time, Plunkett was working under the E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company or more known as DuPont.

The chemical substance found by accident had several unique features like non-stick, heat durable as well as non-reactive towards other chemicals. After it was tested, the substance was found to sustain the heat of up to 260 °C making it less susceptible to melting.

Plunkett introduced this substance to DuPont management in 1941 by naming it after the structure polytetrafluoroethylene(PTFE). DuPont later commercialize the substance with the brand name, Teflon.

In the beginning, Teflon was introduced for military purposes during the Second World War as a backer that protects radar and weapon components by making them much stronger. After the end of the war, DuPont expanded its application into the housing and industrial sectors.

Reaching the 1960s, Teflon started to be marketed as a non-stick material on cookware which made it the main point of attraction of the substance.

Loved By Housewives

Teflon's application on cookware became so popular due to its coating, thus making it much easier to cook food without having to worry about them sticking to the pan. Teflon also made the cleaning process much easier as you do not have to take too much time removing the leftovers spotless clean.

After a few decades went by, it was only after the millennium era that there were a few cases that got less attention with regard to the concern of using Teflon and its effects on the health of individuals.

It was reported that when Teflon was heated to exceed its maximum capacity, its structural chemical broke down into something that is feared to be hazardous in the form of gases. This gas is known as perfluorooctanoate(PFOA) which is an acid substance related to various health diseases such as cancer, liver damage, and reproductive failure.

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What's more worrying is that this issue was already known by DuPont since 1968 but they never revealed it to the public. This secret finally broke through after DuPont expanded its production by opening more factories in Washington and West Virginia.

The chemical waste from these factories was disposed of at several disposal sites which later absorbed into the soil and contaminated the land around it.

The Presence of Lawyer The Revealed Everything

In 1988, one of the farmers in West Virginia was furious after finding out his family members fell ill and sought a lawyer, Rober Bilott to help him with the case. Bilott was requested to investigate the relationship between the health of the family members with waste disposal activities being conducted at DuPont disposal sites.

Bilott then found that the PFOA substance from the waste removal had contaminated the surrounding area of the residence nearby causing huge issues for the locals. After a thorough investigation supported by witnesses, this case was brought to the court allowing Bilott to access DuPont documents and records related to this issue.

After reviewing all the documents, it was found that the company had long realized this chemical known as Teflon but decided to close this case due to high profits being raked from its sales.

The reports from DuPont confirmed that using Teflon will increase the risk of testicular cancer, pancreatic cancer, and liver cancer to not only humans but also the animals exposed to it.

The records also showed that DuPont had been hiding this matter for more than 4 decades but decided to continue the disposal project in several areas in the 80s as a way to fool the public.

Sounds crazy enough right?

A Late Victory

With the help of solid proof, a lawsuit filed by Bilott managed to compensate the people affected but their overall health might seem impossible to cure. After knowing that the number of risk individuals was far much higher than expected, Bilott was determined to help each individual who was at high risk of getting cancer from PFOA to file a lawsuit individually.

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3 early cases gave its win to Bilott's clients with compensation of more than $671 million for roughly 3,500 individuals. The case is still ongoing even to this day since the water contamination is still not resolved.

Do You Still Have Teflon Cookware At Home?

After the United States government banned the use of Teflon, many manufacturers shifted to using a more safe-environment coating for cookware. But this change did not stop the people's concern about the safety of the products.

This is because a study that was done found that the new chemical used to produce another version of cookware still had similar risks of getting cancer at a slightly lower rate. Robert Piloff is still active in handling cases against DuPont.

Bucky Bailey - His mother worked at the DuPont factory while pregnant with him

The conspiracy being kept a secret for so long has become a huge problem for the US government to regulate since it is difficult to determine which areas are affected by this improper PFOA waste removal.

On March 2023, President Joe Biden announced a new policy to improve the level of water contamination by this toxic chemical which was known by the US media as forever chemicals following its property that might not break down.

If you are interested in knowing this case much deeper then perhaps watching the film Dark Waters by Mark Ruffalo might help explain a little bit about this dark conspiracy. The question remains as to whether you still own any cookware with this harmful chemical in them?