The difference is between polymers such as PTFE and PVDF, and the feedstock monomers used to make them. They are completely different materials. PTFE is inert and immortal. It's dead to the world. You can scrape the non-stick coatings off of all your pans and eat it, and there will be no detectable fluorinated chemicals in your blood. PTFE is widely used for medical implants, and has been for over 50 years. Its track record is well established.
The chemicals discussed in the article and in the movie you mention are the feedstocks used to make the polymers, and the surfactants used to form coatings. Those chemicals -- referred to collectively as PFAS -- might be a big fucking problem. They are also inert in a chemical sense, but they're monomeric so they live their whole lives as single molecules, free to pass through biological tissues, where they apparently cause problems. PTFE has no such freedom at any scale; even the finest PTFE dust cannot be absorbed in your gut, and evidence of respiratory hazard of PTFE is pretty much nil until it's burnt, in which case the problem isn't the PTFE but rather the pyrolysis products.
PTFE and PFAS... completely different materials with completely different chemical, biological, and environmental behaviors.
In my comment above, I said that PFAS's are chemically inert, but that's not really true. Some of them enjoy limited but vigorous activity. For example, the big baddie PFOS is a very effective insecticide because it interferes with ATP production. I don't know why it doesn't poison humans with equal ferocity, but I sure am happy it's not being sprayed on clothes and furnishings any more.
>You can scrape the non-stick coatings off of all your pans and eat it, and there will be no detectable fluorinated chemicals in your blood. PTFE is widely used for medical implants, and has been for over 50 years. Its track record is well established.
You fail to mention it's track record for straight up killing birds if you overheat it. Which, to be clear, we're talking about cookware. The odds of it getting left too long on the heat once in a while are very high.
It will kill your pet bird in seconds. Damage to humans? Unclear.
Birds are easily killed by any kind of smoke. Everything from overheated cooking oil to second hand cigarette smoke can quickly kill your bird. Non-stick cookware is hardly unique in that regard.
PTFE does emit some uniquely nasty chemicals when overheated, but in mercifully small quantities, and the effects seem to be temporary. If you read up on fluorinated polymer fume exposure, you'll find exactly zero known deaths, only a handful of known injuries, and no firm evidence of long term health effects. Considering that there are millions of amateur cooks out there abusing non-stick pans every day since the 1960's, I'd say that's a pretty fucking good track record.
The chemicals discussed in the article and in the movie you mention are the feedstocks used to make the polymers, and the surfactants used to form coatings. Those chemicals -- referred to collectively as PFAS -- might be a big fucking problem. They are also inert in a chemical sense, but they're monomeric so they live their whole lives as single molecules, free to pass through biological tissues, where they apparently cause problems. PTFE has no such freedom at any scale; even the finest PTFE dust cannot be absorbed in your gut, and evidence of respiratory hazard of PTFE is pretty much nil until it's burnt, in which case the problem isn't the PTFE but rather the pyrolysis products.
PTFE and PFAS... completely different materials with completely different chemical, biological, and environmental behaviors.