I was watching an infomercial on a magical new non-stick pan that mentioned there was a moratorium on the manufacture of PTFE coming in 2015. This is the first I’d heard of it.
PTFE is such an important industrial product that I suspect we will be manufacturing and using it long after the last oil-fueled engine on earth has gone to a museum.
Also, it doesn’t say that Teflon itself will be phased out* but rather a toxic chemical used in its production, similar to the removal of phthalates and lead from PVC or BPA from plastic bottles (actually, the last means no polycarbonate bottles at all, since BPA is actually the chemical that makes up the plastic). Of course, products made in China, which is to say most of what you buy, probably still use all of these chemicals.
*On further reading, they won’t eliminate PFOA, but ensure it isn’t released from the plastic or during manufacture, which is pretty much the same thing.
The linked article says that the makers of PTFE merely have to ensure that a certain chemical used in the manufacture of PTFE isn’t released into the environment or present in any PTFE products. Since the article in question is several years old and Teflon is still ubiquitous, I suspect they tweaked their manufacturing process to comply and kept chugging along.
If PFOA is in “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.”
Seems like it’s a little late to do anything about it…and we’re all dead of cancer.
ETA: And the infomercial was sewing disinformation to sell it’s product…not a surprise, I guess.
The 8 major manufacturers of PFOA and other long-chain perfluorinated compounds who participate in EPA’s “voluntary” stewardship agreement committed to reduce emissions of PFOA and other LCPFC’s by 95% by 2010, which they did, and to eliminate them by 2015, which they’re working on.
Companies which are not part of the agreement will be regulated by EPA regulations, some of which are in place, and some of which may in place next year. This includes imports of perfluorochemicals and treated products.
(I have seen people joke about all of the “contains chemicals known to cause cancer” warnings on products sold in California - or even outside if they are sold nationally)
We re-shingled our roof with some kind of artificial slate product that is said to give a 50 year roof. Stamped on each piece was “Known to cause cancer in California.” Fortunately we don’t live in California, and I guess it doesn’t it doesn’t cause cancer here in Connecticut.
Everything causes cancer at high enough dosages*, including water. You can’t extrapolate the effects of “very high levels” to very low levels over time very effectively.
*Extremely high doses of anything cause cell damage, which in return causes other cells to fission into new cells as part of the healing process. Since there’s a chance of a mutation that leads to cancer in every cell replication, high enough doses of anything will cause an increased chance of cancer simply because you are overloading the system and causing cells to replicate.
Teflon may cause cancer. Reagan was the Teflon President. Reagan is now dead. Draw your own conclusions.
I remember when a product called Pam came out, a spray-on version of Teflon. Thing is, apparently it gave you a good high if you sprayed it into a bag and inhaled it. There was a problem with teenagers doing that. Do they still make that, and do they know what damage if any that caused?
Pam is - checking the label of one I bought this month - oil (canola, olive, etc.) and lecithin, plus a little dimethyl silicone for anti-foaming, occasionally some herbs (rosemary in the canola version), and a propellant. No Teflon.
It’s the propellant that’s being inhaled, I assume. Kids can even get high off the nitrous that’s used as a propellant in whipped cream cans.