Just use metal wood or glass. One thing I'm not aware of is if Pyrex or the other tempered glasses are safe or if they also contain plastic. That would be good to learn.
Will I actually see actual difference if I throw away all my cook ware and replace it with non-non-stick ones and wooden utensils?
What about pollutants in the air from car and industry exhaust? Is this cookware worse? Should we first consider moving somewhere else than worry about cookware?
What about just the ingredients you cook with? Is using teflon worse than buying highly processed foods? What about GMO vs non-GMO? What about grass fed/free range vs in-prison-meats? What about vegan vs meat?
What I am trying to say is that it is easy to point to something that is (or even might be) toxic and say that we should fix it, but we have to put things in context. You simply can not be afraid of everything. Like drinking out of plastic vs glass vs metal, I know people who swear that drinking from a plastic cup is about the worst thing you can do, but I have been doing it my whole life and at least aren't dead yet.
B) Unless you scratch the hell out of your pan the teflon coating (probably) isn't that bad
C) Cooking on a teflon pan is just so much more pleasurable
Every single thing you mention, except for cooking, does not get exposed to fundamental transformation via heat, or if they have (such as ingredients), they have passed the test of time (nutrients). Ingredients being heated has happened for millenia with fire wood and metal. This is why we care about what we cook and what we put into our bodies. Have we done this before for a long time? Was it safe for a long time? Time matters
I can't say the same about teflon, highly processed foods, etc.
https://www.reuters.com/graphics/ENVIRONMENT-PLASTIC/0100B4T...
So let me ask you again. Its Friday. You have a rib eye, asparagus, and an old credit card on your plate. I’m sure you would not eat a credit card, and would think people were insane for doing so.
So why not try and avoid it if you can. Sure you can’t avoid everything but if you can avoid some things in your control why wouldn’t you?
The argument is that you probably are doing way worse things health wise than using a teflon cookware or black plastic cooking utensils. This is just a scare click bait.
The "scares" are overwhelming only because you live in a society where things are (slightly) toxic by default, because those things are cheaper and can be engineered to barely pass safety standards.
We can and should change this situation. Hopefully not on the individual level, but at least public awareness is useful.
The "scares" are also overwhelming because some people are extreme in everything, for example the person who swears never to drink from a plastic cup. But it doesn't mean the opposite stance (i.e. drinking from plastic cups is good for you) is true. You can believe plastics are slightly bad for you without overreacting, and acknowledge that if it's feasible it's better to avoid them. Reacting emotionally to extremists isn't what a rational person would be doing.
Old Pyrex was borosilicate glass.
Most conveniently differentiated by the branding on the product.
All caps "PYREX" is the classic (high quality) borosilicate stuff.
Titlecased "Pyrex" is the modern ordinary glass stuff.
https://www.consumerreports.org/toxic-chemicals-substances/y...
They're glass. They don't contain this. In particular, oven-safe glass is supposed to be of the borosilicate variety... but about 20 years ago manufacturing was moved to China (haha!). They're not properly formulated or tempered anymore, and in many cases not oven safe. They tend to shatter with large temperature changes, spilling hot casseroles over people who aren't in the habit of having steaming hot casserole showers and then complain about those.
> Just use metal wood or glass.
I like those materials, but think of the damage you're doing to the CPI with your advice. How would we combat inflation if we weren't able to constantly substitute in cheaper packaging materials and so forth?