Why worry about PFAS?
Your quick guide to Toxin-free cookware.
At Blu, we’re passionate about empowering more conscious choices in the kitchen and supporting you to live a more conscious lifestyle. We’re here to provide information that’ll help you in your conscious lifestyle journey, and this article is just one of the ways we hope we can help do this. We – of course – know that there’s so much available information out there today (thanks, Internet), so we have taken some time to review and summarise some of the studies we referred to when developing our own range of cookware. If you weren’t already sold on the whole P-free cookware thing? We reckon you will be after you read this. So let’s dive in.
What are all these P’s (PFAS, PFOS, PFOA and PTFE?)
As early as the 1950s, scientists developed a group of chemicals called ‘PFAS’ to help make our lives ‘easier’. The most common chemicals within this group are fluorinated organic compounds¹ like PFOS and PFOA and PTFE (better known as Teflon). These chemicals are used in products to help our lives become grease-proof, water-proof, stain-proof and stick-free – in short, more convenient! Just looking in your homes now, you’ll find these chemicals in plastic containers, stain removers, fabric cleaners, raincoats, and cosmetics, too.
What we’ve since learned – only about 10 years ago now – is that these chemicals don’t actually break down. Once they enter our bodies or the environment, they may never break down. It’s why they have been named, ‘forever chemicals’. Fitting, huh?
We’ve learned that these chemicals are toxic to fish, animals and unfortunately are absorbed quickly by the human body with the negative impacts of these chemicals now well documented. In fact, there’s a growing body of research linking long-term exposure to the PFAS group to detrimental impacts on human and environmental health², with findings showing links to cancers, obesity, fertility problems, and if absorbed by pregnant women, have resulted in underweight births and birth defects.
How to avoid PFAS. Choose conscious over convenient
Despite the growing interest in a more eco-friendly and conscious way of living, the bad news is that some specific types of PFAS ³ are still on the rise because of a lack of quality and affordable alternatives, and a lack of knowledge.
While these chemicals may have made our lives more convenient and less ‘sticky’ in the short term, there are ways that we can start to reduce our exposure to them.
Cooking P-free
One of the most common exposures to these ‘forever chemicals’ is through our food – what we use to cook our meals with, and how we store our leftovers (or how we store all our food, in general).
When Blu. began collaborating with world-class chefs, manufacturing, health and science experts over seven years ago, our mission was to create a cookware brand that was free from all PFAS including PTFE, PFOS, PFOA, as well as harmful heavy metals, including lead and cadmium (more about those in another article!).
Over 7 years we developed a cookware range that featured a revolutionary non-stick technology that we’ve named Blu Leaf Non-Stick. Blu Leaf is applied as a gel-like paste and once cured becomes a wax-like crystal which, like wax does, forces liquid into spherical droplets that roll and tumble away, releasing the food particles and protecting the surface’s integrity. The result is a non-stick cookware collection that’s 100% toxin free – our Blu. cookware.
A toxin-free future?
The good news is that there have been recent initiatives such as the Madrid Statement ⁴, which gathered over 200 scientists’ signatures from around the world, to support the end of PFAS manufacturing – not just in cookware, but across all industries.
These scientists are encouraging all consumers to, whenever possible, avoid products containing the nasty ‘Ps’, which includes many products that are stain-resistant, waterproof, or non-stick. That’s where Aussies, and conscious cooks the world over, can take matters into their own hands and make the switch to greener, non-toxic cookware.
Across the nation household-recycled products have been identified as a major contributor to the waste in landfill. Deakin University recycling expert Trevor Thornton estimates that 10-30%of recyclable products that end up in landfill come from household products. With the recommendation for households to replace their frypans every five years, it’s important we consciously discard old cookware before opting for more conscious alternatives.
Every council is different; however, we recommend considering donating cookware in decent condition to a charity, recycling them (if they can, in fact, be recycled), or offering them online.
And before we close this blog off, we want to know:
What are you cooking tonight? Have you consciously selected your ingredients? Maybe its grass-fed organic meat? Organic market purchased veggies? Or even GMO-free tofu?
No matter what you’re whipping up for dinner – or what stage you’re at in your conscious lifestyle journey – , you can rest assured that by cooking with Blu., you won’t be adding any toxins or harmful heavy metals into your meal. Mmm, now that’s delicious.
Check out our video below to learn more about PFAS.
