2023-09-30 06:51:25
This is science fiction. The story of over 12,000 chemical substances that are completely absent in nature and completely man-made. Abbreviation PFAS. Full form Per– and Polyfluoro Alkyl Substances. Can be called a nuisance and a villain. The term permanent nuisance is due to the strong bond between carbon and fluorine.
April 6, 1938… Twenty-six-year-old Roy Plunkett, a chemist at the DuPont Company in America, accidentally discovered a strange object. He was looking for cool chemicals with ink. The chemical substance he found was filled in a cylinder the day before. The next day, when the valve of the cylinder was opened, no gas came out. Even following taking a wire and looking at it, there is no movement. Looking at the weight, there is no shortage. Something is shaking inside. When he opened it, he saw a strange white slimy substance underneath.
Plunkett subjected it to several tests. Tried to dissolve it in stronger chemicals, but it didn’t budge. He named it in 1945; Teflon. Poly Tetra Fluoroethylene (Poly Tetra Fluoroethylene) in the language of chemistry. There are four components in Teflon. Teflon is obtained when fluorspar, hydrofluoric acid, chloroform, and water are heated to 590–900 °C and the resulting gas is collected, cooled, and allowed to self-assemble.
Teflon has been hailed as a marvel of modern science. Plunkett was elevated to the ranks of Louis Pasteur and the Wright brothers. In 1951, the city of Philadelphia honored him with the Scott Medal. Teflon has been a prominent industrial product since the 1950s. Teflon was useful in the construction of America’s atomic bomb.
Representative image by: istock / JackF
Marc Gregoire, a French engineer, became fascinated with Teflon in the 1950s. He used to go fishing as a hobby. He solved the problem of entanglement of bait fiber by coating it with Teflon. His wife, Colette, asked him to apply Teflon’s lubricity to kitchen utensils. He invented the technique of coating the inside of metal pans with Teflon. The invention of cooking food without holding it to the bottom of the pan was a revolution in cookware. Today’s non-stick cookware sold more than 10 lakh units within a few years. Since the name Teflon was proprietary to the DuPont company, the new name Tefal was lost.
A journalist heard regarding the ‘French Revolution’ in the kitchen and asked several companies in America to make it. No one heard. He imported three thousand pots and tried to sell them in shops. No one was interested. Finally, a department store opened the door to Tefal in America by selling 200 in two days.
Teflon is the most convenient material in everyday life. Non-stick utensils, waterproof cloths, oil- and wax-proof paper, cosmetics and research materials; And so goes the list of uses and applications. Teflon’s ability to resist heat, electricity, oil, water, and other chemicals is exceptional.
Now, let’s look at the toxic nature of PFAS. There is a beautiful expression of this in the thriller film Dark Waters released in Hollywood. The movie revolved around the legal battle waged by a lawyer named Rob Bilott once morest the DuPont company on account of environmental pollution. The risks of these were discussed during the two-year long legal battle. DuPont had to pay $67 million in damages to 3,500 plaintiffs.
The researchers did not back down from the investigation. PFAS has been found in the Himalayan peaks and the North Pole. It has reached the interior of wildlife all over the world. Bypasses the water treatment system and reaches drinking water. A feature of these is that they accumulate in the body. If what comes in and what goes out is not the same, it will accumulate in the body (Bio Accumulation). Kidneys, colon, rectum, thyroid gland and testicles can all be affected.
Representative image by: istock / Slavica
32 horses and 31 dogs were studied at the University of North Carolina in the United States and it was found that liver and kidney diseases were contracted. Another study followed 1,120 middle-aged women. Menopause was found to occur 2 years earlier than usual. Mothers stop breastfeeding early if the presence of the chemical in the blood is 20% higher than normal. In a study of 5,270 diabetics, 1,849 were found to have heart disease. After realizing the danger, he started trying to remove the villains. The Stockholm Convention is the mechanism for that. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) has been banned globally. Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) was also phased out in 2009.
However, it is generally said that Teflon, a close relative of these, is not a villain. The average expert opinion is that it is safe if used properly. However, it should be handled with caution. PFOA is released if Teflon-coated cookware is heated excessively, i.e. above 260°C. Do not stir or scrape with an iron spatula; It gets into the food as germ particles. Make sure there is plenty of ventilation in the kitchen to allow the smoke to escape.
Care should also be taken when disposing of Teflon containers. If buried in soil, it will decompose over time and reach drinking water. Do not burn. Burning carbon tetrafluoride is 6500 times more potent than carbon dioxide. At the same time, there is a worldwide effort to reduce the production of Teflon and other fluoropolymers for public health and climate reasons.
English Summary: What causes food items to not stick to nonstick pans?
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