It also includes PTFE, the coating on many nonstick pans that was introduced in the s as Teflon. Growing research suggests that many of the compounds used to make that coating may also pose health risks.
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To see if nonstick pans that are claimed to be PFOA-free really are, and if consumers can rely on other PFAS-related claims, CR recently tested three recommended nonstick frying pans in our ratings at different price points. They were the Our Place Always Pan and the Red Copper pan, both of which have ceramic coatings and are said to be free of PTFE and PFOA, and the Swiss Diamond pan, which has a PTFE coating and is said to be PFOA-free.
The PTFE-coated Swiss Diamond pan had measurable levels of 16 of the 96 PFAS we looked for. Our tests found an average of 4 parts per billion (ppb) of PFOA in the coating, even though Swiss Diamond’s package said it was PFOA-free. Levels of some other PFAS were far higher, leading to a combined 639 ppb PFAS in one Swiss Diamond sample, and 703 ppb in the other.
Amir Alon, general manager of Swiss Made Brands USA Inc., the distributor of Swiss Diamond products in the U.S., emphasized the safety and quality of the cookware. He challenged CR’s results, saying that the manufacturer had used PFOA-free raw materials since and that the high temperatures used in the coating process would remove any PFOA. He also suggested that the PFOA that CR found could have come from cross-contamination in the testing process.
However, CR took several precautions to prevent cross-contamination, such as testing all equipment and materials that came into contact with the samples for PFAS, and found no PFOA.
Several outside experts who weren’t involved in CR’s testing but reviewed the results say they weren’t surprised by CR’s findings, even if PFOA isn’t used in the manufacturing of the pans.
For one thing, PFOA could be created as a byproduct of other PFAS when a pan is cured, says William Dichtel, PhD, the Robert L. Letsinger Professor of Chemistry at Northwestern University, who has published research on ways to destroy PFAS.
Igor Novosselov, PhD, who teaches mechanical engineering at the University of Washington and has helped develop a reactor that can break down PFAS using superheated water, agrees. “We see similar things,” he says. And he noted that the higher levels of other PFAS detected are even more concerning than the PFOA that CR found.
Graham Peaslee, PhD, a professor of physics, chemistry, and biochemistry at the University of Notre Dame who studies PFAS, concurs, offering another possibility. He says PFOA and other PFAS compounds could be trapped within layers of PTFE and not destroyed during the curing process.
Exposure to PFAS, which are used widely not only in nonstick cookware but also in stain- and water-resistant gear and grease-proof food packaging, has been linked to liver damage, lowered immunity in kids, and other health concerns.
PTFE and similar compounds are a type of PFAS in polymer form, which means that molecules are joined together tightly, like a plastic. That should make it safer for humans because such compounds are too large to readily be absorbed by our bodies, Boring says.
But long-used pans with scratched coatings may not be as safe as pans in pristine condition. And when PTFE coatings overheat, they can produce fumes that are deadly to small birds and may be harmful to humans as well. You could describe this occurrence as “the canary in the kitchen,” Peaslee says.
In addition, PFAS in pots and pans pose risks even if the chemicals don’t migrate directly into our bodies. That’s because the chemicals can also enter the environment—and from there our food, water, and air—when the pans are manufactured and again when they are thrown away. Indeed, contamination from the production and disposal of PFAS at an industrial scale has been tied to a growing list of health and environmental hazards.
Despite growing awareness of the health and environmental concerns raised by PFAS, it’s not easy to shop for cookware without it, especially if you’re looking for something that will let you cook, say, an omelet without much cleanup.
For example, consumers who see a “PFOA-free” claim on packaging for a nonstick pan may mistakenly assume that means it contains no PFAS at all when it may apply to just that one specific compound. Starting around , U.S. manufacturers of PFOA began voluntarily halting sales of it in this country for uses where it could come in contact with food. And by the end of , it was no longer used in any food packaging, cookware, or other food-related products sold in the U.S., according to the Food and Drug Administration. But based on CR’s tests and research, even products made without PFOA may not be free of it because the compound can be created as a byproduct of other PFAS.
In fact, CR’s product safety experts say that the term “PFAS-free” is misleading. “For one thing, there are literally thousands of PFAS compounds, but most tests look for less than a hundred, so it’s difficult to know if a product is free of them all,” Boring says. In addition, manufacturers may use the word “free” to indicate that the amount is below a specific level—maybe one set by a regulatory agency, for example—not that a product doesn’t have PFAS at all.
A California law that will go into effect in will ban companies from claiming in online sale listings that a cookware product is free of any one PFAS—like PFOA—if it contains any other PFAS, like PTFE. Those claims will have to be removed from packaging by , when a similar law will go into effect in Colorado. Alon, the distributor of Swiss Diamond, told CR that in order to comply with the new California law, the company will be taking the PFOA-free claim off its website by the end of and its packaging by the end of .
A PTFE-free claim on a nonstick pan, however, can be more meaningful. That’s especially the case for pans with a ceramic coating. Ceramics are primarily made of silicon dioxide and other metal oxides, not PTFE or any other PFAS, says Gillian Z Miller, PhD, a senior scientist at the Ecology Center, an environment-focused nonprofit group in Michigan. An earlier study of 24 nonstick frying and baking pans she helped conduct concluded that pans with a PTFE-free label were indeed made with a ceramic coating.
If you currently have a nonstick pan with a PTFE coating and it’s in good condition, experts we’ve consulted don’t think it’s likely to expose you to significant levels of PFAS. Just be sure not to scrape it with metal utensils or steel wool, which can abrade the surface, or preheat it when it’s empty, which can cause it to overheat and release toxic fumes.
But once a pan starts to degrade, or if you’re in the market for a new one, you may want to consider an uncoated pan or one without PTFE.
“We do think ceramics are a better choice if you want that nonstick surface,” Miller says. And Peaslee at Notre Dame says that he has switched to ceramic pans and is happy with the results.
CR’s pots and pans experts agree that nonstick pans made with ceramics can often perform at least as well as those with PTFE.
Our top-rated nonstick frying pan—a Green Pan Reserve—has a PTFE-free claim and ceramic coating. And overall, our cookware tests show no noticeable differences in performance between the PTFE-free/ceramic pans and those with PTFE. In fact, they were neck-and-neck in our tests for cooking evenness and food release, a test in which we fry four eggs in quick succession to see how easily they slide out of the pan. The only slight difference was in our durability test, in which we abrade the nonstick surface with steel wool until the coating wears through (or up to 2,000 strokes). A few ceramic pans scored an Excellent on this test, while many of the PTFE pans scored that high.
The two types are mixed together in our ratings of almost 40 nonstick skillets. You can see which pans aren’t made with PTFE in our ratings.
Uncoated pans can also be a good choice if you want to avoid PFAS. While they may take more than a swipe with a paper towel to clean, most don’t take much more than that and score very well in our ease-of-use cleaning tests. And some, like cast iron and carbon steel skillets, develop a seasoned patina over time that can become like a nonstick coating.
To find some good alternatives, read “Best Frying Pans If You Want to Avoid ‘Forever Chemicals’.”
Since Teflon® cookware, the brand name for the first PTFE (“polytetrafluoroethylene”) cookware got a bad rap for being “toxic” and even “cancer-causing”, some makers of PTFE cookware have marketed their products in all sorts of ways that makes it hard to know what you’re buying. There are so many synonyms for PTFE on the market now, and so much marketing jargon to play down the actual composition of cookware, that it can be really hard to know what you’re buying.
This obfuscation, whether deliberate or not, has caused a great deal of problems for people who want to buy safe and healthy cookware. Our mission is to help people clarify the issues around nonstick cookware and understand the issues so they can buy the cookware that’s right for them.
Here are 6 common myths about nonstick cookware that can make it hard to buy well.
Myth #1: There Are Several Kinds of Nonstick Cookware
Fact: There are two kinds of nonstick cookware: PTFE and ceramic.
As already mentioned, PTFE cookware has been around since the s and is popularly known as Teflon®. PTFE is a long chain hydrocarbon molecule — a type of plastic.
Hint: If the manufacturer refers to the coating as a “polymer” or “resin,” that’s a dead giveaway that it’s PTFE.
Ceramic cookware has been around since about . It’s essentially made from sand, which is turned into a sol-gel, applied to cookware (usually aluminum), and baked to a hard finish.
There are several different brand names of ceramic nonstick, including the highly popular Greblon and Thermolon, but all are some type of sol-gel ceramic, and essentially the same (or very similar) molecular structure.
Both types of nonstick coatings can be reinforced with titanium particles, diamond dust, or other substances that make them somewhat tougher and longer-lived, and these can end up in the name (e.g., “titanium nonstick cookware”). But these materials are added to only two nonstick coatings: PTFE or ceramic.
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Well-seasoned cast iron and carbon steel cookware comes close to being nonstick, but are not technically considered nonstick (although either can be an excellent substitute for those trying to avoid nonstick cookware).
Myth #2: PTFE and Teflon Are Different Substances
Fact: Teflon® is a brand name of a PTFE product.
This goes along with Myth #1, but it bears repeating because a lot of people are confused about it: Teflon® and PTFE are the same substance.
Manufacturers may try to distance themselves from the Teflon® label and imply that their cookware contains no PTFE, but just because their product isn’t Teflon® doesn’t mean it’s not PTFE. In fact, there are hundreds of brand names for PTFE on the market now. Autograph, Quantanium, Eterna, and even some newer types of Greblon — one of the original ceramic nonstick coatings — are all PTFE brand names.
This information can be hard to track down. We tried to do a list of PTFE brand names on our website, The Rational Kitchen, but it would have taken months to track down all that information. (Instead, we did a list of nonstick cookware brands and whether they’re PTFE or ceramic; it’s one of our most popular articles.)
So what do you need to remember? Well, if the manufacturer doesn’t clearly state what their nonstick coating is made of, you can try googling the brand name (if it’s given). Or you can just assume that if they’re not saying outright what the coating is, it’s probably PTFE. (Remember, it has to be PTFE or ceramic.)
Myth #3: “PFOA-Free” Means “PTFE-Free.”
Fact: “PFOA-Free” almost always means the cookware contains PTFE.
PFOA (perflourooctanoic acid) is an adhesive used in the manufacturing of PTFE cookware. It was outlawed in the US in and is outlawed in many other countries as well. PFOA is the most toxic substance associated with PTFE nonstick cookware.
So when a manufacturer claims their cookware is “PFOA-free,” this is somewhat meaningless, because all cookware is now PFOA-free.
The claim is often used to distance the product from PTFE, when in fact “PFOA-free” almost always means the product does contain PTFE.
It’s only when cookware is listed as “PTFE- and PFOA-free” that you know it contains no PTFE (it’s ceramic).
Since PFOA is the real danger, you may be okay with buying PTFE cookware. However, keep in mind that manufacturers have to use something to get the PTFE to adhere to the aluminum, and it’s likely a substance similar to PFOA.
So, you might want to pass on “PFOA-free” products. They may be safe and non-toxic, but the truth is we just can’t say for sure.
Myth #4: Ceramic Nonstick Cookware Is Better than PTFE.
Fact: Both types of cookware have pros and cons, including health and safety issues.
When people google for safe nonstick cookware, they’re generally looking for non-PTFE cookware, which means ceramic nonstick cookware.
But ceramic nonstick cookware may have its own set of toxicity issues.
According to this article from Wellness Mama, the sol-gel substance used in this cookware may contain titanium dioxide nanoparticles, which have been associated with pre-cancerous lesions. The evidence is still sketchy, but it’s something people should be aware of when shopping for cookware.
Ceramic nonstick cookware may also be made with a process that uses lead and/or cadmium, both of which are toxic to humans. This shouldn’t be a concern with established brands, but we recommend avoiding no-name brands because of this possibility.
Furthermore, ceramic nonstick cookware doesn’t last as long as PTFE cookware. The ceramic can lose its nonstick properties within just a few months of purchase. The irony is that it can withstand much more abuse — high heat and metal utensils, for example — but even so, the nonstick properties tend to fade faster than with PTFE.
On the other hand, PTFE cookware is safe when used properly, and can last for several years. What’s “proper use”? Don’t use high heat, don’t use metal utensils, don’t use aerosol cooking spray, and always hand wash without abrasive scrubby pads.
Myth #5: Modern Nonstick Cookware Is More Durable than Older Nonstick Cookware.
Fact: All nonstick cookware is fragile and its nonstick properties are short-lived.
There are hundreds of brands of PTFE on the market now, all claiming to be more durable than older versions. Metal utensils? No problem! Dishwasher? Go for it! Abrasive sponges? Absolutely!
Additions to the nonstick coating such as titanium and diamond dust also promise added durability; this is true for both PTFE and ceramic nonstick.
The truth is, PTFE is PTFE, and it’s got a finite life span — usually 2–5 years under ideal conditions. And if you want your PTFE cookware to last as long as possible, you will never, ever put it in the dishwasher, use high heat, use metal utensils, or use abrasive sponges to clean it. Yes; even if the manufacturer claims you can.
Ditto ceramic nonstick, which, while tougher, is going to lose its nonstick coating no matter how you treat it. Baby it to get the longest life possible out of it, but don’t expect more than a year or two.
Myth #6: Expensive Nonstick Cookware Is More Durable than Inexpensive Nonstick Cookware
Fact: All nonstick cookware has about the same longevity.
There may be a slight improvement in modern iterations of both PTFE and ceramic, meaning the coatings might be able to take more abuse and retain their nonstick properties slightly longer. Reinforcements like titanium and diamond dust might also make a small difference in longevity.
However, the real difference usually amounts to more expensive brands having more layers of nonstick coating.
Whether more layers add to a pan’s longevity is questionable. What really makes a nonstick pan last is caring for and using it properly.
The point here, though, is to not spend a lot on nonstick cookware. You won’t get your money’s worth out of it, and you’ll be annoyed when you have to throw out a pan that you paid too much for.
So Where Does that Leave Things? How Do I Buy Nonstick Cookware?
People have valid concerns about toxins in their cookware, especially nonstick cookware. Despite prevailing evidence that both PTFE and ceramic nonstick cookware are safe when used properly, you never know for sure. In many ways, the jury is still out on both types of nonstick coatings.
Here are our recommendations:
- If you have concerns about toxins, avoid both PTFE and ceramic nonstick cookware. Instead, go with seasoned cast iron. You can find pre-seasoned cast iron, making it an even easier choice. No, it’s not totally nonstick, but it comes really, really close — and you won’t be throwing pans in a landfill every few years (instead you’ll be passing them down to your grandchildren).
- If everyone in your household will use a PTFE pan properly, it’s your best bet for the longest-lasting nonstick surface. You can get an excellent quality 10-inch skillet for about $30 — don’t pay more than this.
- If people in your household won’t use a pan properly, go with ceramic nonstick. It will lose its nonstick properties faster, but it’s currently considered the safer choice, nanoparticles notwithstanding. As long as you buy a reputable brand, you should be fine. As with PTFE, don’t spend more than about $30 for a 10-inch skillet.
For more information you can check out our article on how to buy a nonstick pan.
Thanks for reading!
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