TEFLON IN TROUBLE

More than 20 attorneys, representing a total of 73 people, recently met to discuss the first steps in a $5-billion federal lawsuit, spanning at least 15 U.S. states, over injuries caused by the chemicals released from Teflon-coated pans.

The attorneys hope to combine all of the individual complaints into one class-action lawsuit against Teflon maker DuPont. If they receive class-action certification, hearings could come as early as January.

This could eventually lead to refunds for millions of Teflon cookware purchasers throughout the United States.

Teflon is the trade name for the polymer polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) used in electrical insulating tape; combustion engines; chemical apparatus and tubing designed to resist attack from most chemicals, and in non-stick frying pans and other cookware.

Several disturbing facts about Teflon chemicals:
• They tended to be very persistent in the environment
• They are fat soluble and resistant to normal detoxification processes in the liver
• They accumulate and concentrate in animal and human body fat,
• They get passed on by the mother to the fetus through the placental membrane and then to the infant via breast milk,

• A number of them are endocrine disrupting chemicals (i.e. they interfere with the production or performance of hormones, which are the messengers produced in special glands to regulate body chemistry) To top it all, when these substances are burned in any facility ranging from a back yard burner to a trash incinerator, they produce highly toxic byproducts including dioxins and furans ( PCDDs and PCDFs).

It is time to get rid of your toxic cooking utensils. It is counter-productive to invest time, money and love into making healthy, organic meals for your family while cooking them in toxic pans.