3 Ways to Reduce the Health Risks of Nonstick Chemical PFOA,
The fluorine based nonstick chemical PFOA,, or perfluorooctanoic acid,, was developed by the company DuPont more than 50 years ago and is what makes Teflon and other nonstick pans so slippery. But scientists have since become concerned that PFOA contributes to long term health problems. A study published today in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine found that children and teenagers with PFOA in their blood serum had higher total cholesterol levels and higher levels of LDL,, the "bad" cholesterol,, than children who were not exposed. (The study wasn't designed to show causation,, so it doesn't mean that PFOA is necessarily the culprit.)
[Concerned About Your Cholesterol,? 10 Ways to Lower LDL and Raise HDL]
In 2006, the Environmental Protection Agency launched a program aimed at reducing the use of PFOA by 95 percent in 2010 and eliminating it altogether by 2015. Still, the chemical persists in people's bodies and in the environment for years, binding to proteins in the liver and blood. Given that, and the uncertainty about the long term health effects of PFOA exposure, it makes sense to consider how to reduce unnecessary contact with the chemical at home. Here are three suggestions:
The fluorine based nonstick chemical PFOA,, or perfluorooctanoic acid,, was developed by the company DuPont more than 50 years ago and is what makes Teflon and other nonstick pans so slippery. But scientists have since become concerned that PFOA contributes to long term health problems. A study published today in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine found that children and teenagers with PFOA in their blood serum had higher total cholesterol levels and higher levels of LDL,, the "bad" cholesterol,, than children who were not exposed. (The study wasn't designed to show causation,, so it doesn't mean that PFOA is necessarily the culprit.)
[Concerned About Your Cholesterol,? 10 Ways to Lower LDL and Raise HDL]
In 2006, the Environmental Protection Agency launched a program aimed at reducing the use of PFOA by 95 percent in 2010 and eliminating it altogether by 2015. Still, the chemical persists in people's bodies and in the environment for years, binding to proteins in the liver and blood. Given that, and the uncertainty about the long term health effects of PFOA exposure, it makes sense to consider how to reduce unnecessary contact with the chemical at home. Here are three suggestions: