Recent studies link a chemical called perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) to human thyroid hormonal imbalances and diseases. PFOA is found in the coatings of non-stick cookware, stain resistant carpeting, upholstery and clothing. The most common way PFOA makes its way into the human body is 
by eating foods cooked in non-stick cookware or foods that touched non-stick coatings on fast food wrappers and styrofoam packaging.
The researchers found that the individuals with the highest 25% of PFOA concentrations (above 5.7ng/ml) were more than twice as likely to report current thyroid disease than individuals with the lowest 50% of PFOA concentrations (below 4.0ng/ml). The most specific analysis included 163 women and 46 men who reported having current thyroid disease and who were taking thyroid medication at the time the blood samples were taken.
What is the moral of the story? Organic, all natural carpet, or just cut out the hairy stuff altogether. Get natural, organic furniture, not stuff made out of synthetics and PFOA. But more importantly, replace all non-stick cookware with stainless steel, woods and metals without the teflon coatings. Your thyroid will be much happier and more easily regulate your metabolism and mood without a bonbardment of PFOA.
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Tags: carpet, cookware, Health, hormone, imbalances, non stick, perfluorooctanoic acid, PFOA, research, Science, studies, teflon, thyroid, thyroid disease, uphostery
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Hi Chrystine — Because there’s so much misinformation out there about Teflon, I’m not surprised that you are concerned. I’m a representative of DuPont though, and hope you’ll let me share some information with you and your readers, so that everyone can make truly informed decisions.
A recent study tried to determine whether there is a potential relationship between PFOA and thyroid changes. The study’s authors state that the observed association is a correlation, which may or may not be causal. This is inconsistent with other studies, including studies of workers who have had much higher levels of PFOA exposure than the general public. These workers have not shown any changes that would indicate impact on the thyroid. The weight of evidence gathered from a number of significant health studies continues to indicate to us that there is no health risk to the general public from exposure to PFOA. Please take a look at http://www2.dupont.com/PFOA2/en_US/pfoa_thyroid.html for more info. http://www.teflon.com/Teflon/teflonissafe and http://www.pfoa.dupont.com can provide you with additional information, as well.
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On the molecular level, when two objects come in contact, they exchange molecules. The degree may vary. Heating process and the scraping of the teflon or PFOA contaminated coating accelerates this exchange. If you overheat a Teflon pan, PFOA and other dangerous chemicals can be released. Also, when using Teflon cookware, the user is required to use plastic or non-metal utensil to avoid scratching the Teflon coating, which means consumers use more plastic at high temps with the hazard of coming into contact with more BPA. With Stainless Steel pans, the utensil used can also be stainless steel.
The studies you sighted above contained no counter information from studies done suggesting PFOA are harmful. It in fact admits that PFOAs “may or may not be harmful” and then the DuPont website says the just don’t think it is harmful, end of story. Third party, unbaised studies are the ones to pay attention to. DuPont obviously has much at stake. Thankfully, DuPont and other major PFOA polluters have agreed to discontinue using this harmful chemical by 2015 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/25/AR2006012502041.html
The worst damage by DuPont and others who use PFOA is the dumping of waste PFOA into public water systems, harming wildlife and contaminating human drinking water sources and recreation areas.
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