It’s Tuesday, and that means another article from our friends at Naturalpath. Today, they’ve shared an article with us on Teflon-coated cookware (original publication here), and its potential health and environmental threats. According to the article,

Far from your kitchen, the chemicals used to manufacture Teflon are also very persistent in the environment. Toxic chemicals released when cooking with Teflon-coated cookware can find their way into the air, water, soil, and our bodies. A 2005 study by the Environmental Working Group, in collaboration with Commonweal, found chemicals including perflourooctanoic acid (or PFOA), a known carcinogen, in the umbilical cord blood of US-born infants. Similarly, researchers at John Hopkins Medical Center released findings in 2006 that PFOA was present in umbilical cord blood of 99% of 300 newborns tested. Also, households with birds should note that Teflon fumes pose a particular hazard to their delicate systems.

Naturalpath points to other potential problems with Teflon, some safer alternatives, and, as always, provides a comprehensive list of resources.