Teflon-Linked Dangers May Not Stick

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That statement is echoed by French cookware maker T-FAL. On their Web site, the company explains that PFOA is a breakdown product of polytetrafluoroethylene, an ingredient in non-stick coatings. As part of the manufacturing process, the company "cures" T-FAL pots and pans at very high heat (572 degrees Fahrenheit) which they say eliminates PFOA from the finished product. The result: "T-FAL non-stick coatings DO NOT contain PFOA," according to the company.

Experts note, as well, that trace residues of PFOA in cookware would only escape at very high heat -- although pinning down that heat threshold is tricky. While T-FAL cites a threshold of 752 degrees F, experts elsewhere tend to place it at about 600 degrees F. Experts at the Washington-based Environmental Working Group -- which has lobbied hard to ban PFOA -- note that a preheated pan placed on high heat can reach over 600 F in two to five minutes.

Corcoran said that even though he's holding on to his non-stick cookware, he does tend to cook at somewhat lower temperatures now.

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Numerous animal studies have suggested that PFOA, which is also used in the manufacture of fast-food paper containers, stain-resistant fabric coatings, and other products, can boost liver toxicity and raise risks for liver, pancreatic and thymus cancers.

Studies in humans have so far been largely restricted to workers exposed to high levels of PFOA in their environment. "These workers are exposed to a range of other things, of course, so interpreting the data in those studies is extraordinarily difficult," Corcoran said.

However, "a big concern is that PFOA-related substances tend to have long half-lives in the body," explained Kendall Wallace, president of the Society of Toxicology and a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Minnesota Medical School, in Duluth.

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