Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 Also, thirty-two people were tested for teflon and Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), the carcinogenic element of teflon. teflon was found in the livers of 27 people, the breasts of 25 people, and the brains of 28 people. All but two people became teflon-free after one week. Only one person had teflon remaining in the breast, and one person had teflon remaining in the brain.
In the same 32 people, initially PFOA was found in the liver of 28 people, the breast of 29 people, and the brain of 28 people. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 As part of an investigative story for NewsTarget, I searched the web for teflon alternatives and eventually stumbled across a line of cookware from a company called Swiss Diamond, which claimed their pans were made of diamonds and contained no teflon. I purchased one of the pans and put it to the test.
This article is about what I discovered with the Swiss Diamond pans. |
| This false belief is widespread among both consumers and retailers, and it appears to be reinforced by the Swiss Diamond company's marketing materials which specifically attempt to distance the company from teflon even though its own pans are made with precisely the same chemicals.
The NextTen.com catalog mentioned earlier also seems to have been hoodwinked. Their catalog says, "Even the EPA is studying the potential dangers in the toxic breakdown of the most famous non-stick surface. Instead, Swiss Diamond forms a virtually indestructible surface... |
| The impression I got when shopping for this product is that I would be cooking on diamonds, and that whatever the nano-composite was made of, it would certainly be safer than teflon.
I wrote the Swiss Diamond company and asked for an explanation of what the nano-composite material was made of. After a week or so, I received a polite reply from Allan Wolk, an employee in the U.S. His email informed me that, "Our patented nonstick surface uses a nano-composite of real diamond crystals and PTFE; it is applied using a computer controlled plasma gun at very high temperatures. |
| This is how these PTFE chemicals ("Teflon" by the DuPont name) get into your body -- they are scratched off the pan with cooking utensils, then blended into the foods that you later swallow.
Take a close look at these chunks of PTFE. They're jagged, scary-looking chunks of synthetic chemicals that have no place in the human body. Do you really want to eat this? And keep in mind that I easily scraped off these bits with a common fork. Imagine what a metal spatula might do after scrambling eggs, flipping burgers or stir-frying some vegetables.
Consumer fraud? You be the judge... |
| Steer clear of Swiss Diamond pans, unless, of course, you have a great inner desire to pay $99 for a $20 teflon pan fluffed up with marketing hype and deceptive product claims. And be wary of health claims from any non-stick cookware.
To my knowledge, the only healthy surfaces to cook on are cast iron, stainless steel (like a giant wok), and Pyrex (but Pyrex isn't for stovetop use anyway).
Want to stay informed about more consumer fraud alerts like this one? |
| I believe that consumers are being fooled into buying Swiss Diamond pans based on the false impression that these pans are teflon free and that the non-stick surface is made primarily of diamonds. As you will learn here, this is far from the truth.
The promise of safe non-stick cookware
At first, the promotional literature for the Swiss Diamond pans sounds very promising. Websites selling the cookware claim, "The cookware is made with synthetic diamonds! Diamonds will heat up fast and evenly without any hot spots. |
Stacy Malkan
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 Teflon chemical that is ubiquitous in drinking water supplies and people's bodies.14 Recent Du Pont ads in Good Housekeeping magazine feature a smiling young woman in a white lab coat with the caption, "As a scientist, I make teflon. As a mother I use it."15
The line between the cosmetics industry and chemical industry is thin. Before taking the cosmetic industry's top job, Pamela Bailey spent six years as head of AdvaMed, the medical device manufacturers trade association. |
Paul D. Blanc, M.D.
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 The inhalation fever syndrome on its own may not be dangerous, but it points the way to other, far more threatening exposures with which it is often linked, such as byssinosis in the cotton mills or toxic welding fumes that are less benign than zinc oxide. Even teflon and related materials may cause polymer fume fever when overheated only to a moderate degree, but at even higher temperatures (such as when a teflon pan is left on a lighted burner) they can release deadly irritant gases. Indeed, the song "Metal Fume Fever" may have a point. |
Kevin Trudeau
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 One of the things I talk about in the book is the fact that teflon nonstick pans are incredibly dangerous. I mentioned that if you put a teflon nonstick pan on your stove, turn up the heat on high, and happen to have a pet parakeet on your shoulder, the poor parakeet would probably drop dead from the dangerous, poisonous fumes coming from the teflon nonstick coating. These fumes are generated when high heat is applied. I have said that science is not better than nature. |
Paul D. Blanc, M.D.
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| Even teflon and related materials may cause polymer fume fever when overheated only to a moderate degree, but at even higher temperatures (such as when a teflon pan is left on a lighted burner) they can release deadly irritant gases. Indeed, the song "Metal Fume Fever" may have a point.
The most important lesson the story of job fever teaches us is that toxins are not bound to fixed boundaries of specific jobs or avocations. Cotton mills and brass foundries may at least be heavy industries, even if far apart in what they make. |
David Steinman
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 To some, I understand, teflon is an all-American hero, an icon. In 1990, President George Bush presented the National Medal of Technology to DuPont for the company's pioneering role in the development and commercialization of man-made polymers over the last half century. The citation given the company by the president lists teflon as one of these very special products.
There's one problem. |
Michael F. Jacobson, Ph.D., Lisa Y. Lefferts and Anne Witte Garland
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| Teflon. teflon is an inert material. Although you should avoid scratching the pan with metal utensils, so that you don't eat teflon particles in your food and don't impair the pan's "nonstick" property, the particles wouldn't be absorbed by your body anyway. Just don't use teflon cookware for broiling, or leave it unattended at high heat, because it may give off fumes. One advantage to Teflon: you can use less oil.
þ Ceramic. The FDA recommends avoiding ceramic cookware from Mexico, China, India, and Hong Kong, because of the possibility that it may leach dangerous amounts of lead into food. |
| It does appear that the incidence of Alzheimer's disease is increasing, though, so it is important that more research be done.
þ teflon. teflon is an inert material. Although you should avoid scratching the pan with metal utensils, so that you don't eat teflon particles in your food and don't impair the pan's "nonstick" property, the particles wouldn't be absorbed by your body anyway. Just don't use teflon cookware for broiling, or leave it unattended at high heat, because it may give off fumes. One advantage to Teflon: you can use less oil.
þ Ceramic. |
Mark Sircus
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 The US Environmental Protection Agency has begun an investigation to determine how a teflon chemical has found its way into the blood of virtually every American, and polluted drinking water supplies. Perfluorooctanoic acid, a key ingredient in the making of teflon non-stick coating for cookware can cause testicular, breast, liver and prostate cancers, as well as birth defects. And in 2004 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has found perchlorate contamination in nearly all of the more than 200 samples of lettuce and milk it collected and tested nationwide. |
Brenda Watson and Leonard Smith
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 Unfortunately, teflon is one of the hardiest man-made products, its molecules surviving forever in the environment and in your body. When heated, Teflon's chemical off-gassing will kill some birds if they are in the same room.
Aluminum has had a long history, from fables that it can cause Alzheimer's to facts that it's a powerful neurotoxin damaging to brain cells. Yet it can be found in numerous products, including vaccines routinely given to children. |
David Steinman
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| The citation given the company by the president lists teflon as one of these very special products.
There's one problem. The EPA is trying to figure out why the chemical is showing up everywhere from remote Minnesota lakes to polar bears in Alaska and albatrosses in the Pacific Ocean to more than 95 percent of Americans' blood samples and at even higher percentages among Koreans.40 All right, a little teflon is cool, I guess. It isn't hurting anyone, right? Well, we don't know. |
| In worker blood studies conducted by 3M Corporation between 1994 and 2000, scientists found excess total cholesterol levels among Teflon-exposed workers, and in 2001, 3M published self-incriminating research showing that workers exposed to teflon for between five and ten years face a risk of dying of stroke fifteen times higher than nonexposed workers.42'43-44 The EPA says DuPont further concealed its own 1981 research showing that its pregnant workers were passing the chemical to their unborn children. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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| Only one person had teflon remaining in the breast, and one person had teflon remaining in the brain.
In the same 32 people, initially PFOA was found in the liver of 28 people, the breast of 29 people, and the brain of 28 people. After one week, all people became PFOA-free except for one person having PFOA remaining in the breast and brain. |
Kevin Trudeau
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| I mentioned that if you put a teflon nonstick pan on your stove, turn up the heat on high, and happen to have a pet parakeet on your shoulder, the poor parakeet would probably drop dead from the dangerous, poisonous fumes coming from the teflon nonstick coating. These fumes are generated when high heat is applied. I have said that science is not better than nature. |
Andreas Moritz
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 Manufacturers add it to a wide range of products, including soy products, toothpaste, fluoride tablets, fluoride drops, fluoride chewing gum, tea, vaccines, household products, fluoridated salt or milk, anesthetics, mattresses emitting fluoride gases, teflon, and antibiotics. It is also found in polluted air and polluted ground water. Because of its proven high toxicity, in August 2002 Belgium became the first country in the world to prohibit fluoride supplements.
"Fluoridation ... |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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| Only one person had teflon remaining in the breast, and one person had teflon remaining in the brain.
In the same 32 people, initially PFOA was found in the liver of 28 people, the breast of 29 people, and the brain of 28 people. After one week, all people became PFOA-free except for one person having PFOA remaining in the breast and brain. |
Stacy Malkan
See book keywords and concepts |
| Recent Du Pont ads in Good Housekeeping magazine feature a smiling young woman in a white lab coat with the caption, "As a scientist, I make teflon. As a mother I use it."15
The line between the cosmetics industry and chemical industry is thin. Before taking the cosmetic industry's top job, Pamela Bailey spent six years as head of AdvaMed, the medical device manufacturers trade association. During that time, the group lobbied to keep vinyl medical devices — a major source of phthalate exposure to sick patients — unregulated and unlabelled. |
Mark Sircus
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| Perfluorooctanoic acid, a key ingredient in the making of teflon non-stick coating for cookware can cause testicular, breast, liver and prostate cancers, as well as birth defects. And in 2004 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has found perchlorate contamination in nearly all of the more than 200 samples of lettuce and milk it collected and tested nationwide. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
See article keywords and concepts |
 When you need to heat something, heat it in a toaster oven or a stovetop pan (avoid teflon and non-stick surfaces, of course). Better yet, strive to eat more of a raw, unprocessed diet. That where you'll get the best nutrition anyway. Buy yourself a Vita-Mix and blend up some smoothies. It's faster than microwaving foods are far healthier. (See my book Superfood Smoothies for recipes).
I drink a superfood smoothie every morning, and I haven't used a microwave in years. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 If you don't like big, ugly chemical companies like DuPont, then stop buying teflon! If you want to support organic farmers, buy organic! Vote with your dollars and you'll support those people and those organizations you want to see more of in 2008 and beyond.
These are the kind of ingredients that can bring you personal success in 2008 and beyond. Remember, if you want different results in 2008, you need to engage in different actions.
Your daily habits determine your year-end results. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 Another study says teflon is safe. And yet another study claims that cigarette smoke doesn't cause lung cancer or heart disease! In fact, for virtually every toxic chemical created by industry, there's a B.S. study proclaiming its safety! The history of science is full of such nonsense, all funded or influenced by the corporations that manufacture and sell these toxic chemicals or drugs.
The fact that industry has managed to create yet another study declaring a toxic substance (thimerosal) to be safe when injected into children is certainly not surprising. |
Stacy Malkan
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| The tests found plasticizers, mercury, lead, cadmium and teflon chemicals in the bodies of the two parents and two children. Five-year-old Mikaela had more dibutyl phthalate — a chemical used in cosmetics and other products — in her urine than 90% of kids tested in the US. But the biggest surprise was what they found in two-year-old Rowan: higher levels of flame retardant chemicals than had been found in nearly anyone else in the world — six times higher than the levels found in his parents, and twice the levels at which researchers start to see impaired fertility in male rats. |
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