THE pan that made washing up easier, the kuali replacement that seduced almost every Malaysian kitchen from Penang to Johor Baru, may not be as innocent as it looks.
Non-stick pans are coated with a synthetic material that researchers have spent decades examining, and the findings are worth knowing before you fire up the stove tonight.
Is it true that cooking in a non-stick pan releases harmful chemicals into your food?
Verdict:
FALSE, BUT...
Non-stick pans are among the most popular cookware items in Malaysia, widely available and priced from under RM50 to several hundred ringgit.
Most are coated in a slippery synthetic material called polytetrafluoroethylene, or PTFE, which gives the pan its signature non-stick properties.
PTFE belongs to a larger family of synthetic compounds known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, sometimes called "forever chemicals" because they are extremely resistant to breaking down in the environment or in the human body.
Under normal cooking conditions, PTFE is considered stable and safe, but questions arise when the coating is damaged or exposed to very high heat.
On the question of damage, a 2022 study by researchers at the University of Newcastle in Australia used specialist imaging to examine non-stick pans and found that a single small scratch on the surface could release approximately 9,100 microplastic and nanoplastic particles into food.
Microplastics are tiny fragments of plastic, invisible to the naked eye, that have been detected in human blood, lungs and organs in separate studies.
Where the coating is more significantly damaged through cracks or fractures, the estimated release rises to more than 2.3 million particles per cooking session.
A 2024 study by scientists from Plymouth Marine Laboratory and the Norwegian Research Centre, published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, tested this further using jelly as a stand-in for food and put it through common cooking steps including heating, mixing and cooling in different types of cookware.
Cookware made from stainless steel and glass introduced no microplastics into the food at all.
Non-stick pans, on the other hand, do release microplastics, while older, more worn pans release significantly greater amounts than new ones.
The researchers estimate that daily cooking with non-stick cookware could introduce between 2,409 and 4,964 microplastic particles into home-cooked food each year.
Crucially, the health implications of ingesting microplastics are still unclear, and the researchers say further study is needed before any firm conclusions can be drawn.
Overheating is a separate but equally important consideration.
According to the US Poison Control Centre, non-stick coatings begin to break down when exposed to temperatures above approximately 260 degrees Celsius, releasing gases and fine particles into the air.
Inhaling these fumes can cause a condition known as polymer fume fever, sometimes called "Teflon flu," with symptoms including fever, chills, headache and body aches.
Symptoms typically appear several hours after exposure and generally resolve within one to two days, though more serious respiratory complications have been reported in cases involving extreme temperatures over extended periods.
Pet birds are particularly vulnerable, with documented cases of birds dying after their owners left a non-stick pan heating unattended on a stove.
A chemical called perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, was previously used in the manufacturing process of non-stick coatings and has been linked in research to kidney and testicular cancer, thyroid disorders, high cholesterol and liver disease.
PFOA was phased out of production globally by 2013 following a US Environmental Protection Agency stewardship programme, and modern non-stick pans are no longer made using it.
However, concern remains about other PFAS compounds used to replace PFOA in manufacturing, as these persist in the environment in a similar manner.
A 2021 study by the Ecology Centre in the United States tested 24 non-stick cooking and baking pans and found that some labelled "PFOA-free" still contained other PFAS chemicals, meaning the reassuring label does not tell the whole story.
The researchers noted that only cookware specifically labelled "PTFE-free" or "PFAS-free" can be relied upon as a meaningful safety claim.
Health authorities and researchers say non-stick cookware remains safe for everyday home cooking provided basic precautions are followed.
These include using only wooden or silicone utensils rather than metal ones, never preheating an empty pan, keeping the heat at low to medium and ensuring the kitchen is well ventilated.
Pans that show scratches, flaking, peeling or yellowing are recommended to be discarded and replaced, as damaged coatings increase the likelihood of particles entering food.
To conclude, no non-stick pans do not release harmful chemicals into your food if they are used properly.
However, if they are damaged, older pans might release harmful PFAS particles and newer ones will release PTFEs where the jury is still out on whether or not that's a bad thing.
If you are concerned but still want to use non-stick pans, ceramic-coated pans labelled PTFE-free and PFAS-free are noted as an alternative, though researchers find that ceramic coatings tend to lose their non-stick properties more quickly.
At the end of the day, cast iron and stainless steel have been identified by multiple researchers as the most durable PFAS-free options for those looking to avoid the issue entirely.
Sources:
1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.
2. https://www.sciencedirect.com/
3. https://www.ecocenter.org/our-
5. https://www.poison.org/
6. https://www.healthline.com/
7. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
