Kitchen utensil manufacturers get win after lobbying blitz.

The French National Assembly on Thursday unanimously adopted a bill aimed at restricting the manufacture and sale of products containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — also known as PFAS or “forever chemicals.” The MPs, backed by the government, voted to exclude kitchen utensils from the scope of the text.

Thanks to an intense lobbying push, manufacturers of frying pans and saucepans — including the SEB group, which owns Tefal — are exempt from this ban under the proposed law penned by French Green MPs.

Majority groups initially tried to delay the ban on kitchen utensils until 2030 — a timetable refused by the French Green MPs who instead suggested an exemption until 2026.

  • @DasusEnglish
    12•6 months ago

    so it just comes back out.

    Eh… does it?

    https://www.businessinsider.com/chart-how-long-hazardous-forever-chemicals-pfas-stay-in-blood-2023-3

    It can take five hours for your body to filter half the amount of caffeine or alcohol you’ve consumed from your blood. LSD is a bit faster at three hours.

    BPA has a similar half-life to caffeine and alcohol, but arsenic can take up to 10 hours.

    Toxic metals like lead or radioactive polonium, take months to halfway leave your blood.

    But PFAS surpass all of these other substances. Some of the PFAS that have been studied — PFOA, PFOS, and PFHS — can take over seven years to reduce by half in your bloodstream. It’s no wonder they’re called “forever chemicals.”

    I still use my non-sticks, but like you said, I’m gonna buy non-PFAS cookware the next time I need to. I’m in no panic about my pans. What people probably should pay more attention to is PFAS in clothing. This might be a tad sensationalist as The Guardian often is, but eh, with a grain of salt: https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2023/jul/02/fashion-chemicals-pfas-bpa-toxic

    • @LemzlezEnglish
      4•6 months ago

      Yes, the final product comes back out. The final product is PTFE, not PFAS. PTFE is harmless unless degraded or overheated (which is why you shouldn’t do that with non-stick cookware).

      To produce PTFE, PFAS are used (or are intermediaries in the process), which is why the production is dangerous, but the product isn’t.

      • @DasusEnglish
        -5•6 months ago

        #Some of the PFAS that have been studied — PFOA, PFOS, and PFHS — can take over seven years to reduce by half in your bloodstream. It’s no wonder they’re called “forever chemicals.”

        • @LemzlezEnglish
          6•6 months ago

          There’s no PTFE in that list.

          • @DasusEnglish
            -5•6 months ago

            So?

            We’re not talking excretion, we’re talking blood half-life.

            Too complex a distinction for a corporate shill?

            • @LemzlezEnglish
              6•6 months ago

              Hey, it’s me, your friendly neighbourhood corporate shill, telling you to not buy any more nonstick cookware because I love Tefal so much. More for me!

              But seriously, I’m not disputing that the chemicals you listed are bad, just that the coating itself doesn’t affect you.

              PFAS bad, but only there during production. PTFE fine, and that’s what’s on your pan. PTFE does not get into your blood. Any PTFE you consume comes back out, because it is not PFAS.

              TL;DR: use pan until pan bad, then buy pan with no PTFE.

              • @DasusEnglish
                -4•6 months ago

                Do you understand the difference between excretion and half-life?

                Do you understand that anything that has a half-life of SEVERAL YEARS in the blood and is fairly novel and hasn’t been studied for long term effects of exposure on humans, should be something which you avoid having in your blood?

                It’s like when tobacco companies put asbestos in cigarettes to “filter” them.

                https://www.asbestos.com/products/cigarette-filters/

                But yeah, tldr I can agree with

            • LizEnglish
              3•6 months ago

              I hate to step in here, because I fear you’re not interested in a discussion, but chemistry is very sensitive to small changes. You can’t just notice that two chemicals are related or similar and assume they behave similarly in all situations. It literally takes a degree in chemistry to look at a molecule and start making guesses about its properties.

              Then we throw in the fact that we’re interested in how these chemicals behave inside your body and it becomes a whole other level of complex. Guessing is practically out the window, as far as I’m concerned, unless you’ve got some key functional group that stays consistent and exposed whose interactions you already understand. Your body has so many different chemical systems you just plain can’t assume similar chemicals will have similar behavior.

              • @DasusEnglish
                0•6 months ago

                Hate to step in here, but you both think PFAS is a substance. It’s a group of substances that INCLUDES PTFE.

                You’d have better luck of “uhm actuallying” a sixth third grade lesson.

                • LizEnglish
                  1•6 months ago

                  Yeah that’s a good point, that’s my bad. Polymers isn’t my specialty.