2 Cookware Materials to Avoid

To run a greener kitchen and household, some cookware materials are better than others. Whether you simply dabble in the kitchen or cook up a storm, there are some kinds of cookware to steer clear of when buying pots and pans. Here’s a good rundown about two materials you don’t want to be eating but that are commonly found in cookware, from Easy Green Living, a new book by Renee Loux:

Aluminum
Aluminum conducts heat brilliantly, but it’s really dangerous to allow it to come in direct contact with food. It’s a soft, highly reactive (especially with acidic foods) metal that can leach into food. It’s toxic, genotoxic (can cause genetic mutation), and may disrupt hormones. The most dangerous danger is that aluminum is neurotoxic; it can cross the blood-brain barrier and may be linked to Alzheimer’s disease. Proponents of aluminum cookware say it’s debatable how many aluminum molecules get into food, but many scientists and doctors say it’s a serious health risk. I won’t use aluminum foil to come into contact with cooking food at all costs. Aluminum cookware that is coated with stainless steel is safer–in fact, some of the best heavy-bottomed stainless steel pots and pans have aluminum in their bases to better conduct heat. However, I would advise you to avoid non-stick-coated aluminum pots and pans at all costs because I believe that both materials are really bad for you.

Teflon-coated and other non-stick pots and pans
The chemicals used to make pots and pans non-stick are toxic and hazardous to humans, wildlife, and the environment. They’re widely believed to be carcinogenic, bioaccumulate in tissues over time, and persist in perpetuity in the environment because there is no known mechanism that can break them down. Non-stick chemicals have consistently been linked with developmental disorders, birth defects, and cancer and have been shown to be highly toxic to the liver, kidneys, and blood. Companies that manufacture non-stick products insist that they’re safe and they won’t break down or emit fumes under normal cooking conditions. But it doesn’t take a doctoral degree to contest that pots and pans can get very hot very fast and that they scratch easily, which means flecks of the coating can end up in food.

The original manufacturers of non-stick chemicals, 3M, even stopped making them, citing “principles of responsible environmental management,” but one company (ahem, DuPont) keeps up production despite the EPA’s campaign to reduce and eliminate the use of these dastardly chemicals for the sake of all beings on the planet. The bottom line is, don’t buy them. If you have them, don’t use them for cooking.

Unfortunately, there is no way to recycle non-stick pots and pans, but a good idea might be to send them back to the manufacturer with a little note saying, “Enough is enough, stop with non-stick chemicals already. Quit harming humans and the world at large.”

Read more: Home, Health & Safety, aluminum, chemicals, cooking, non-stick, pans, pots

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Charlene S.

8:04AM PST on Mar 7, 2011

Teflon and other non-stick cookware are, as Marietta P states in her tragic story of loss, deadly to birds. (I'm so sorry about your precious little friends, Marietta). At the very least, manufacturers should be stating this clearly on their packaging/labels. It should also serve as a stark warning to us humans of how toxic these products are.

send a green star

Beverly L.

6:12AM PST on Nov 17, 2010

I remember my mom having a teflon pan she cooked everything it. The bottom of the pan was completely stripped of teflon after years of use and the thought of that literally grosses me out.

Mervi R.

3:55AM PDT on Apr 2, 2010

Scary... thanks for the info!

Noreen M.

9:05AM PDT on Mar 30, 2010

I cannot believe aluminium foil is harmful to use for cooking when it comes in contact with food? I line pans all the time (reheated pizza especially) with it. Please clarify what you mean. Does that mean it's only use is to catch the drips in my oven?

Janice P.

1:52PM PDT on Mar 25, 2010

I accidentally burned something in a teflon pan once. The whole house smelled from it, and the food was really bad. I hate to waste food, but I had to throw it away. Now, I know why.

Dorothy O.

2:39AM PST on Mar 5, 2009

My mom used heavy aluminum cookware many years while I was growing up. Aluminum foil was a staple in the kitchen, going camping, etc. We never used under-arm protection with aluminum. I doubt that food cooked in aluminum is really a problem. I think aluminum sitting on the skin is worse as it can be absorbed directly. I have gradually quit using aluminum or coated cookware as it deteriorates with age. I use glass or pottery in the microwave oven, which I enjoy. I have good steel/copper pots and pans that lasted many years. I have several crock pots which I use a lot. It seems I'm using the right things.

Marietta P.

1:09PM PST on Mar 1, 2009

I already wrote in on another thread that all of my birds died three weeks ago yesterday because of an oven liner that got compromise over a year and a half usage and set off PTFE fumes. My African Grey was like a child to me and died in my hands on the way to animal emergency just 20 minutes after being exposed. My cockatiels were dead in their cage when I got home. This liner manufacturer does not mention PTFEs or danger to pet birds in any packaging or website. I knew about teflon but since it is a trademark name for Dupont products other manufacterers do not need to mention it in their materials. I found out the hard way. My birds were NOT in the kitchen when I had the oven in use for 25 minutes at only 375 degrees and were no in the same room as each other, yet they all died of lung hemmoraging, cause by teflon toxicity. Be forwarded!

Brad S.

8:05PM PST on Nov 11, 2008

I BOUGHT A SCANPAN FROM THE KITCHENSTORE. I talked to them about safety. I thought it ws a good choice. I would like to know more.

Elizabeth A.

1:53AM PST on Nov 11, 2008

Another question: Where does the danger from non-stick items come from? By that, I mean, what is it exactly that poses risks? Is it the off-gassing, the potential to transfer to food during cooking, chipping and exposing the materials underneath or is it just the manufacturing process and all the chemicals that are used for that? I generally stay away from such items, but I'm curious to learn more about it and know the specifics of the dangers related to using the items.

1:33AM PST on Nov 11, 2008

Does anyone know if the risks associated with using non-stick items is reduced if the food doesn't actually touch the pan? I'm thinking specifically of when I BAKE with non-stick items but use parchment paper so the goods don't actually come in contact with the pans/sheets.