Is it true that Teflon in pans can cause cancer?

Did you know that the material responsible for preventing food from sticking to the pan, known as teflonhas a very negative reputation?

It is accused of being toxic and carcinogenic. And this is something that can scare people, after all, you are using Teflon pans to make your own food every day! However, is this bad reputation really true?

There are many doubts in this case and to better understand the extent to which this detail may be true or not, we will explain it to you in this article. This way, you can get a better idea about Teflon.

Photo: Ypê/Reproduction

After all, is Teflon carcinogenic or not?

As mentioned by food technologist Beatriz Robles in her book “Eat Safely by Eating Everything”, Teflon is an inert material. This means it does not react with other chemicals or food, making it safe for culinary use.

Furthermore, it has high resistance to various chemical compounds and can be used repeatedly in extreme temperatures, ranging from -200 to 260 degrees Celsius.

However, reaching this maximum temperature during cooking is highly unlikely unless the pan either forgotten in the fire or placed on the stove, which is never recommended by the manufacturers of pans of this type.

Teflon’s bad reputation diverts attention from a truly lethal substance

Therefore, any additional problems with Teflon do not need to be considered. What happens is that Teflon’s bad reputation is related to another substance called perfluorooctanoic acid or PFOA.

It is important to emphasize that the risks of cancer are directly related to this specific substance, which can indeed be harmful to health. Teflon, on the other hand, is safe.

PFOA is used to fix the Teflon to the surface of the pan, ensuring its non-stick properties. Therefore, Teflon ends up taking the blame for something he is innocent of in this case.

It turns out that PFOA is not only present in kitchen pans, but is also used industrially as an anti-stain coating on fabrics, varnishes, paints, among others.

Furthermore, this substance also appears in the environment, posing a threat to ecosystems and potentially contaminating food.

So, when you read that Teflon can be carcinogenic, remember: Teflon, in itself, has no problem. It turns out that the substance used to fix it to the pans is the danger.

Even so, there is not much to worry about, because the substance is present in the inner layer of Teflon and does not come into direct contact with food on the surface of the surface. pan.