"Dieter Zakas" > wrote in message
...
> Hi, guys!
>
> I seem to recall an article not long ago about research that claims that
> nonstick materials used in cookware can flake off (microscopic pieces,
mind
> you), be carried over to the food, and be ingested, and can/will
ultimately
> cause Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia. This also applied to
aluminum
> cookware.
>
> My girlfriend Kelly strongly advocates that I get rid of pots and pans
made
> of or with those materials, and get stainless steel or cast iron. My
> question is, just what is the current verdict on that?
>

there was a chart posted some months back - most cooking utensil materials,
if ingested in large enough quantities, can be toxic to some degree. :-)

if it makes her happy (and isn't just the first in a line of demands so you
have to make a stand on it now), get rid if the aluminum and get some
ceramic-teflon and cast iron.
Besides, if she wants to cook and has to use something she doesn't like -
you're going to be sorr-eee...

Aluminum, teflon, and stainless.

Aluminum:

1) From the "Medterms" medical dictionary - aluminum "poisoning":

"Aluminum toxicity occurs in people with renal insufficiency who are
treated by dialysis with aluminum-contaminated solutions or oral agents.
The clinical manifestations of aluminum toxicity include anemia, bone
disease, and progressive dementia with increased concentrations of aluminum
in the brain.
Prolonged intravenous feeding of preterm infants with solutions
containing aluminum is associated with impaired neurologic development."

2) As to the sources: Aluminum is chemically transferred proportional to
heat, Ph, mechanical contact, and time.
Remember that aluminum cola and beer cans are in contact with aluminum
for weeks on end, and beer and cola are more acidic than tomato juice or
even some lemon juice. In contrast, aluminum pots and pans are in contact
cooking the usual food for maybe 20 minutes, and most food is a far lower Ph
than cola or beer.
(some vendor's cans are plastic coated inside to protect against
significant transfer.) Antacids have a lot of aluminum, as do buffered
aspirin, which are both considered as having a lot more aluminum ingested
than one ever gets from cooking in direct-aluminum pans
So compared to not cooking food, or to other sources of aluminum,
cooking in an aluminum pot or pan may be the least of your worries. (And as
a side note: can one even find uncoated aluminium pans any more?)

4) As to whether the amount taken in by your body in pots is significant
enough to constitute toxicity: no one is sure what the long term acceptable
levels are, but they know a relatively acute poisoning when they see it.
Aluminum oxidizes in air in a matter of hours and the very thin oxide
itself is damn near impervious to anything. Alkalines and salts attack
aluminum if they can get through the oxide -and in cookware where the oxide
is very thin, they usually can.
Aluminum is equal in hardness to nylon (shore a? 123-125), while aluminum
oxide is harder than tempered steel. It therefore is prone to deep scratches
and release by overeager use of utensils.
So yes, some aluminum can leech into the food under the right conditions,
such as salt or alkaline, but all the other materials have similar problems.
If you have aluminum cookware, you could get dump it because it browns
poorly, sometimes puts an off-taste into food, susceptible to pitting, and
isn't dishwasher "safe".

I got rid of my aluminum because it was much less suitable than iron for
frying, than enamel for making sauces, than stainless for cooking
vegetables, and than glass for highly acid foods. Which kind of left it out
there as a bad compromise all around.

Teflon:
Teflon is a plastic that melts somewhere around 500-600 F, depending on
the type. Melted is not nice, but still inert. The stuff used to make teflon
is very reactive, which also means it hangs onto its bonds very strongly and
won't let go of the teflon molecule to get into the food.

Teflon is insoluble and pretty much inert unless you are cooking sodium or
flourine or ionized oxygen. Fill a teflon pan with stomach acid, and it
holds the acid without damage indefinitely. Which kind of tells you how well
the body can break it down or make it so it could get into the cells -it
can't.

Teflon is a soft plastic, which means it can dent and be scratched. Some
teflons are mixed with fine ceramic powder (as inert as glass) to improve
surface hardness.

I use commercial grade premium teflon pans for most pan work which does
not involve frying.

Stainless steel - several types, known in formable types as "series". Two
of the three series of stainless steel have iron, chrome, and nickel. The
200 series has no nickel but usually uses manganese instead.

There has been some recent concern about nickel poisoning using stainless
steel cookware, since acids leech nickel from the metal, and perhaps salt
(which pits stainless).
Literature (other than the natural foods groups, who have anything made
of metal responsible for everything from flatulence to cancer) indicates
that in some sensitive/previously allergic persons, prolonged nickel
contact can cause dermitological problems -- so avoid hugging your pots. (
Nickel vapors are not normally a problem wiht kitchen cookware.)
The chrome and iron are said to be beneficial offsets to any nickel
downside.

FWIW......



> Dieter Zakas
> --
> Good, better, best; never let it rest, until your good is better and your
> better is best. (Billy Cox)
>