A new study has revealed that tiny plastic particles could be seeping into food after contact with cooking utensils. One small crack in a Teflon-coated saucepan could release as many as 9,100 particles.
Teflon-coated nonstick pots and pans gradually lose their coatings as we wash and use them. This could cause problems during meal preparation. However, it is not possible to gauge how much plastic is being released.
New research examines microplastics (smaller that 5 millimeters, or 0.2 inches), and nanoplastics (1 million times smaller). It concludes that we may be dealing with large amounts of plastic fragments over the course of time.
It is a stark warning to us that we must be cautious about choosing and using cooking utensils in order to prevent food contamination.” says Youhong TangFlinders University in Australia, where he is a mechanical- and material engineer.
The team used what is known as a “risk assessment” to determine the level of risk. Raman imaging techniqueTo study the nanoplastics and microplastics in a Teflon coating at molecular level using photon scattering. They developed a specialized algorithm to determine how much of the coating could be lost and found its way into food.
Researchers cut small pieces of Teflon-coated cookware and used them to model the cooking process.
A broken coating could cause as many as 2.3 million tiny particles to be released during meal preparation, according to the numbers – that’s based on 30 seconds of cooking time if a cooking turner has ruptured a Teflon surface.
To add to the concern, Teflon (or polytetrafluoroethylene) is in the family of what are known as ‘forever chemicals’ that stick around in the environment: the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that have been linked to There are many health issues..
“These Teflon microparticles might pose a concern to your health, considering that PFAS is a serious concern. says Cheng FangMaterials scientist at the University of Newcastle in Australia,
Although there are still questions regarding the dangers of this microplastic and nanoplastics release, researchers call for more investigation into possible contamination during cooking.
You might consider putting out older cooking pans after a while. Or, you could make Teflon coatings more resistant to wear and tear from washing and use.
Despite their accomplishments, the research team acknowledged the difficulty of measuring and assessing small plastic particles. This area could be improved in future.
“As Teflon is a member of PFAS, it is recommended that more research be done to assess the risk of Teflon’s microplastics and nanoplastics.” Tang.
The research has been published in Science of The Total Environment.
