California lawmakers voted to ban a group of chemicals known as PFAS, which are often called “forever chemicals,” in cookware. The move has pulled in celebrity chefs on one side and environmentalists, including actor Mark Ruffalo, on the other.
The proposal, Senate Bill 682, would prohibit PFAS in cookware, cleaning products, dental floss, ski wax, food packaging and certain children’s products. Lawmakers approved the bill in a 41-19 vote, late on Friday, with 20 assembly members not voting. The bill quickly passed amendments in the Senate and is now headed to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk for his signature.
It’s the latest move to limit PFAS, which are a class of thousands of chemicals that have been around for more than 70 years and are widely used in a variety of consumer, commercial and industrial products due to their ability to withstand heat and repel water and stains. They are called “forever chemicals” because they are extremely persistent in the environment and can accumulate in humans and animals.
I know very little about PFAS, but based on the theory that not the final product, but the byproducts from the manufacturing process are the ones that are most dangerous for health, this seems like a setup to appease the activists while not doing anything about the polution.
Its also bad for you if you get it too hot, and not entirely sure how good eating it is for you.
I stopped using it because its unnecessarily wasteful, why the fuck should I be replacing a pan every few years or so? Why would I want a pan that flakes into my food? Cast iron and stainless steel is just better.
Carbon steel is also great.
Clean clad stainless with a little oil and a proper pre heat has never let me down in terms of food releasing. Cast iron and carbon steel release even easier for when you need it too.
I often cook pancakes on cast iron without a problem. Teflon is unnecessary.
As demand for the final product is reduced manufacturing should slow down and the rate at which byproducts are created should be reduced in proportion.
A similar thing is happening in other industries too, if you try to buy a new gore-tex raincoat today you will struggle, since the company behind the brand have discontinued their pfas based fabric and are trying to release a more environmentally sound replacement.
Not that either of these is a complete solution in isolation, but hopefully they will have a positive effect.
California has limited say - they can’t affect out of state manufacturing or sales. However limiting the products will reduce the manufacturing byproducts
A big part of the concern is the “forever” part. The known dangerous PFAS have been regulated to mixed results but it’s still a huge class of chemicals that lasts effectively forever. It just keeps accumulating in the environment. We’ve only tested/regulated a small fraction of the possible chemicals so are there other that are hazardous? Are higher exposures or longer term exposures hazardous? Do we want to be reactive, only finding out when it’s too late and our entire environment is affected? With no way to clean it up? Lasting effectively forever?
Yeah I read the ones used for the end-user have longer chains so they don’t stay in our body. Most ppl get theirs from water supply. Correct me if I am wrong