OMG -- My pans are killing me!

Last night C and I watched "Garbage--the Revolution Begins at Home", a film in which a family keeps their garbage for 3 months. The filmmaker also explores the various kinds of pollution that the family (and ANY family) produces and its effects on the environment and other people. The segments on water (in which the water expert says that the rivers in our cities are already past the breaking point) and electricity (in which the filmmaker goes to mining communities in West Virginia) are extremely sad and scary.

During the film, one of the environmental experts talks about the threat of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a toxin that has been found in everybody that they tested. According to the Environmental Working Group, PFOA has been linked to cancer, birth defects, liver damage, and low birth weight. Eight companies that manufacture PFOA have agreed to stop by 2015, and Dupont had to pay a large fine to the EPA for failing to report studies that demonstrated its health risks.

What is PFOA found in? Teflon -- the non-stick coating on your pans. Microwave popcorn bags and other food packaging. Do you have a non-stick pan that has scratches? Guess where the coating is....

I'm pretty horrified, so I'm going to finish getting rid of the non-stick pans in my life. I will replace them with stainless steel or cast iron. The added bonus of cast iron? Prevents anemia :)
Seriously. If you cook in cast iron pans, you get the health benefit of additional iron instead of a scrape of toxic chemicals. I was anemic during one of my pregnancies and the nutritionist recommended that I cook in cast iron. It's also super heavy, so useful for hitting an intruder.