Teflon Nonstick Pans Are Bad. Consider These Alternatives

Some of my favorite recent products from cookware manufacturer Oxo have come from end-of-conversation asides from the company’s in-house PR guy. I found out about its fantastic travel mugs that way, for example. More recently, he and I spoke about nonstick pans, and as we wrapped up our chat, he mentioned something funny about a critics’ favorite nonstick from the brand that I’ll paraphrase here.

Oxo Guy: We’re phasing it out.

Me: What?

This made no sense. Why drop something that sells and works so well?

The answer, I think, is that Oxo is reading the room. Soon after I spoke with the PR rep at the end of August, word came from the US Environmental Protection Agency that PFAS—perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, such as those commonly found in traditional nonstick pans—are slated to be labeled as hazardous substances.

"It’s a good idea," says Catherine Karr, an environmental health researcher at the University of Washington, citing a list of potential negative health effects that can also depend on individual genetic risk.

"If you want to have no exposure to PFAS from your pans, use alternatives. You can’t remove your genetic risk, but in this case, you can remove an exposure," Karr says, listing cast iron, stainless steel, and ceramic as options. The EPA announcement, "will likely motivate industries to move away from this class of chemicals that we call ‘forever chemicals’ because they are so persistent."

Sure enough, right around then, I happened to be checking out a fancy new line of Martha Stewart pans that offered ceramic options but no traditional nonstick. Ads for carbon-steel pans bubbled up in my timelines. Ads for Teflon, the OG of PFAS, did not. To add fuel to the fire, it turns out some pans that claim to be forever-chemical-free are not.

Stick Up

According to a spokesperson, Oxo’s outgoing nonstick pans contain PFAS, but the company’s new ceramic pans have none. The only problem there is that ceramic pans have a mixed track record on the stove, as they are known for not being as durable as traditional nonstick pans. Their not-always-great durability comes up often in reviews and when I speak with friends who have tried them.