When you need a frying pan to cook fluffy omelets, a skillet to brown mushrooms, or a sheet pan for baking an afternoon treat of chocolate chip cookies, it’s tempting to reach for something nonstick. The pots and pans tend to be inexpensive compared to stainless steel or cast iron, and they are designed to be easy to clean, a time saver in general, but especially when cooking sticky, delicate foods like eggs or fish. You likely have some questions, though, about exactly how those nonstick pots and pans are made and whether they’re safe. Maybe you’ve read an article about PFAS (or perfluoroalkyl and poly-fluoroalkyl substances), so-called forever chemicals, and you remember something about those being used in nonstick pans. Or maybe you saw the recent Food52 announcement about bidding farewell to PFAS-based chemically coated nonstick, or the many social media ads for direct-to-consumer nontoxic, nonstick cookware, and are wondering if those pastel-colored pans are preferable to their plain Jane black-and-gray predecessors.
“There’s a lot of confusing claims out there,” says Marty Mulvihill, a green chemist and cofounder of safe-technology investor Safer Made. “The challenge is getting all the information you need as a consumer to really make a judgment.”
What makes cookware nonstick?
What typically makes a pot or pan nonstick is a special type of slippery coating. Years ago, that coating was a type of PFAS (or forever chemical) called perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA; after safety concerns about PFOA arose, it was banned from cookware in Europe in 2008 and phased out in the United States in 2015. The new nonstick cookware — including many of the millennial-chic options marketed aggressively on Instagram — is made with a variety of coatings. These include PEEK, a type of high-performance plastic; ceramic (often combined with a layer of silicon-derived polymer for extra release); and the most common, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) — a polymer made with next-generation PFAS chemicals that are linked to the same issues as PFOA.
Some PFAS are also hiding in other types of cookware, such as air fryers, that most of us may not consider a potential source. Indeed, consumer demand for PFAS-free nonstick products has changed manufacturer behavior a little (as noted above), but it hasn’t really solved the problem. Instead, some manufacturers are putting PFAS- or PFOA-free claims on pans that are using more obscure, less-regulated PFAS and other chemicals — essentially the cookware equivalent of wolves in sheep’s clothing.
What’s wrong with forever chemicals?
PFAS are a class of chemicals often referred to as “forever chemicals” because they never break down completely. There are nearly 15,000 per- and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals, and for decades, their use has been widespread in everything from nonstick cookware and stain-resistant carpets to refrigeration systems.
“They’re really good chemicals in the sense that they do stuff that sounds great. They’re nonstick, they’re water resistant — and that’s amazing,” says Pauli Ojea, the program manager for Toxics Reduction and Healthy Communities at the San Francisco Environment Department, which recommends people use stainless steel or cast-iron pans when cooking to avoid PFAS. But as Ojea also adds, “They’re really, really bad because they stick around forever, and that’s what’s so challenging. We need as a society to ask ourselves if these uses are worth it.”
Since PFAS use is so widespread, products containing them — like straws, coffee cups, takeout containers and more — are difficult to avoid. In fact, even if you have never come in contact with a PFAS-containing product (highly unlikely), PFAS have been contaminating our environment and water supply for decades. They leach into the soil from landfills, have been spread on farms in fertilizer sludge, and eventually end up in waterways. At least 45 percent of U.S. tap water is estimated to contain one or more types of the forever chemicals according to the U.S. Geological Survey. While there is still a lot that scientists don’t know about the side effects of PFAS, study after study links them to a broad range of deleterious health impacts, including infertility, congenital disabilities, developmental delays and increased risk of some cancers. It’s also thought that they can damage plant health by changing cell structure, and increasingly scientists are learning about the chemicals’ negative effects on wildlife.
The production of PFAS-coated pans also exposes factory workers to those chemicals, and the wastewater from factories like those are what contaminates waterways, landfills and, in some cases, farmland. Further, the disposal of pans poses significant dangers to the environment and, by extension, every living thing in it. (More on these topics in greater detail below.)
I already own a nonstick pan. Now what?
Many of us have heard various forms of cautionary chatter around nonstick cookware. Avoid it if it’s scratched. It will sicken you or your pets. Never use metal utensils, which can nick the coating. And keep it away from high heat. How accurate are these admonitions?
Although a scratched pan is not a dangerous pan — ingesting bits of coating, while unpalatable, won’t make you ill — the marred coating will reduce the nonstick qualities of the pan. And it’s true that using metal utensils will only worsen the pan’s condition.
However, the main personal health risk in using the pans comes with overheating them. At high temperatures (above 500°F/260°C), PFAS release toxic fumes that can lead to Teflon flu (aka polymer fume fever), which America’s Poison Centers describe as a flu-like illness that causes fever, chills, muscle aches, headaches, fatigue, nausea and respiratory symptoms. Although it’s hard to confirm cases of Teflon flu, in 2023, America’s Poison Centers reported 267 suspected cases of it; so far in 2024, there have been 156 reported suspected cases, which the Centers say is an increase from recent years. The inhaling of fumes from overheated nonstick cookware is also particularly deadly to pet birds.
Knowing that these pans are problematic, you may be tempted to toss any lurkers in your cupboard. Experts are mixed on whether or not you should. From the perspective of personal health, if the pan was made after 2015 (when PFOA was phased out), and you’re not using it at high temperatures, it’s likely safe to keep cooking on it. If it’s in good condition and still retains its slippery properties, you can and should keep using it. And that’s because the disposal choices aren’t great: Most unwanted nonstick cookware goes into the landfill, where it remains… forever. While recycling the pans is an option, it too presents obstacles. As Ojea explains, “It is not impossible to separate the PFAS chemicals or the PFAS coating from the metal and do scrap metal recycling. But most people are not going to call their scrap-metal recycler to figure it out, so unfortunately, they probably go to a landfill, and that is something that’s a concern for sure.” What’s worse, even pans that do get recycled release their PFAS into the environment in the process.
Ojea notes, “Landfills have been a source of groundwater contamination, and of course, pots and pans are not the only pieces of that. It’s why we need to turn off the tap in the first place.”
How do we phase out PFAS for good?
In this case, turning off the tap means curbing consumer demand and holding manufacturers accountable. “[PFAS are] a really problematic class of chemicals found in so many different products,” says Ojea. “We want to help drive folks away from using products containing these chemicals and drive industry away from manufacturing products that contain them so that they don’t wind up in our water systems, our bodies and our environment.”
Several states are taking action to move manufacturers in the right direction. The California Safer Food Packaging and Cookware Act AB 1200 requires cookware companies to include a list of intentionally added PFAS chemicals on their websites as of January 1, 2023, and on product labels as of January 1, 2024. In Connecticut, Colorado and Vermont, cookware with intentionally added PFAS chemicals will be banned from sale beginning in 2026. “Increasing the transparency, I think, will really help not only consumers make a more informed choice — because right now it’s pretty confusing — but it will also drive safer options in the marketplace,” says Mulvihill.
In November 2024, popular online retailer and lifestyle website Food52 announced it was moving away from PFAS-coated nonstick cookware. In partnership with one of the “Instafamous” cookware brands, Our Place, they launched a titanium pan that is marketed as nonstick thanks to patterning created in the cladding process (where high pressures are used to fuse layers of the pan). But it’s still not clear exactly what the pan is made of.
“This may be possible, but I want to learn more. If it is possible to press these three layers of steel, aluminum, titanium and create the pattern in the titanium, that is very impressive and maybe a safer manufacturing process,” says Mulvihill. “It is great to hear that Food52 is not carrying any PFAS-coated cookware; moves like this from retailers put pressure on manufacturers to make safer alternatives.”
Some cookware manufacturers are pushing back against the regulations, though. In 2024, several brands formed the Cookware Sustainability Alliance, an organization that says its goal is to “educate and advocate for consumer safety, sustainability and the materials used in cookware, such as fluoropolymers like polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) nonstick coatings.” In May of 2024, the alliance called on the governor of Connecticut to veto a state bill banning the sale of cookware with intentionally added PFAS chemicals. He didn’t. They were, however, able to help defeat bills that would have banned PFAS chemicals in cookware in California and New York.
How to get unstuck from nonstick
It’s understandable that nonstick is tempting, especially when you’re inundated with colorful ads claiming nontoxicity (most of this new cookware is ceramic — more on those below). But when investing in (or gifting) new pans, it’s wise to seek other options. Mulvihill says the best advice he can give to those concerned is not to use coated pans; he avoids them. If nothing but nonstick will do, Mulvihill thinks the PEEK pans and ceramic are better health-wise. “I tell people that if you really want to use a nonstick pan, try to find one that is either ceramic or a PEEK pan. Try to find out what is actually in the pan, and don’t rely on the PFOA-free or other kinds of claims unless it’s fluoroethylene free. Then, only cook things at lower temperatures. Don’t put [the pan] in the oven, don’t bake things in it, don’t do high-heat searing.”
Now that you understand the stakes, here’s a cheat sheet to the types of pots and pans you might encounter in the marketplace.
LOWER-RISK NONSTICK — PLUS SOME ALTERNATIVES
PEEK nonstick cookware: Most “traditional” nonstick is made with PTFE. Another type of nonstick cookware that is increasingly on the market is coated with PEEK. It’s a type of high-tech plastic that is scratch resistant and sometimes billed as tough enough to withstand metal utensils. However, PEEK is still a type of plastic — worth noting if you’re trying to avoid plastic or are wary of the climate-warming effects of fossil fuels.
Ceramic nonstick cookware: A popular new class of nonstick cookware, these candy-colored ceramic pans — such as the Instagram-famous Always Pan — are often marketed as nontoxic. That’s because they contain neither PFOAs (in keeping with the 2015 phaseout) or PTFE. That said, consumers should investigate the composition of the coatings, which are typically silicon based. While manufacturers frame silicon-based coatings as better for the earth and humans, there’s little research to support their claims since the coatings are relatively new. And the lifespan of ceramic nonstick tends to be three years or less (in some cases, markedly shorter); if you have to replace a pan every few years, it’s not the most environmentally friendly option.
Safer, more sustainable options: The safest, most sustainable cookware option are high-quality pans made from carbon steel, stainless steel and cast iron that will last a lifetime.
While carbon-steel pans do need to be seasoned, they are virtually indestructible. Plus, once they are seasoned, the pans are basically nonstick.
Like carbon-steel pans, non-enameled cast iron needs to be seasoned, but it is also virtually indestructible. New ones are pricey, but you can often find very cheap vintage ones that simply need a bit of clean-up. Cast-iron pans do tend to be heavy, though. There are also enameled cast-iron pans that you don’t need to season, however, while you can put them in the oven and use them at high heat, the enameled coating does mean you can’t use metal utensils and must be careful not to scratch the surface.
Stainless steel pots and pans are another good option. They tend to be more expensive than nonstick (as are the other options) but they will last longer. They’re also versatile and you can achieve that easy-release beloved in nonstick by adding sufficient oil or fat before you cook your food.
