Suppose you're forced to live in a flat with nothing but Teflon pans (a vision of hell, surely, but a daily reality for me). Suppose further that every one of those Teflon pans is already scratched (we're entering the second level of Hell now), but some are scratched just once while others appear to be thoroughly scoured.
What's the best policy to minimize destructive effects on your health?
Is it: Use the less-scratched ones which have less of their badness exposed?
Or use the more-scratched ones since they have less Teflon on them??
Clearly, the only solution is to toss all that junk and eat all your meals out. Although the technical answer might be that the carcinogenic properties of Teflon mostly relate to its manufacturing, and less to the finished product.
Interesting. Wikipedia backs you up on the health issue. I had a friend whose parakeet died and she claimed it was because of overheated Teflon. What do you know: "Teflon begins to deteriorate after the temperature reaches about 500°F (260°C) ... These degradation products can be lethal to birds, and can cause flu-like symptoms in humans."
I feel much better now--thanks, erica!
I can't eat out all the time because:
1. I like cooking too much,
1(a). I can't afford it.
What if you throw away all the pans and either buy a pair of new teflon ones and convince your flatmates to use wooden spoons instead of the forks when frying, or just buy a pair of uncoated ones?
(1) beg for 10 euros, (2) go to chinatown, (3) buy pan. what if i freaking send you the amazon gift certificate needed to buy a freaking pan and count it as the weight of three or four years of missed freaking birthday presents???! how does this one look to you:
http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/ref=br_1_3/602-7606579-7471814?%5Fencoding=UTF8&frombrowse=1&asin=B000FBUGFS