More than a decade ago, investigations discovered that perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, a chemical used in the making of Teflon, was linked to birth defects, heart disease, and cancer.
The chemical has been phased out since a 2006 settlement, and no longer produced since 2013. But the chemicals in current “non-stick” cooking products are chemically related and according to recent research, they seem to have the same deleterious health effects.
Last week, research from 2 leading environmental health scientists, Philippe Grandjean of Harvard and Richard Clapp of the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, reported two things. First, the recommended “safe level” for PFOA is likely more then 1000 times higher then it should be to protect health, but more importantly, like lead and asbestos, it is likely not safe at any level.
Non-Sticky in the Pan, But Sticky in the Body
PFOA and its chemically related cousins are biochemically persistent–they stick around and accumulate in the body over time. Half-life in the body is 4-10 years, and there are traces found in the blood of 98% of people tested, in polar bears, and in dolphins in India. This stuff sticks around.
The compound bio-accumulates over time because of the way it is eliminated from the body. Chemicals like PFOA’s leave the body through the bowels. In the liver they are mixed with bile because they are fat-soluble, and this toxic bile mixture, then leaves the body via a bowel movement. The trouble is, on the way out, your body re-absorbs up to 90% of that bile, along with the fat-soluble toxins with it. Bringing it back to the liver to try again.
What Should You Do?
1. Use non-stick cooking alternatives
- You can find a list of recommendations here.
2. Filter water
- Use an activated charcoal or reverse osmosis system.
3. Help your body eliminate them
- Increase fiber in your diet.
- Supplement with chlorella, which naturally binds bile acids, aiding your body in getting rid of fat-soluble toxins.
- Colon hydrotherapy stimulates the liver to release bile as well as washing the bile out before it has a chance to be reabsorbed and is a powerful way to rid your body of fat-soluble toxins.
You can read a long and damning history of DuPont’s manufacture of C8, another name for PFOA, here, including details of the lawsuits and cover ups. Tragic.