There is a new report out showing that teflon now counts as a carcinogen. An independent scientific review panel has advised the EPA that perfluorooctanoic acid and its salts are potential human carcinogens, a much stronger conclusion than the EPA’s. The EPA reported that there was only suggestive evidence that teflon was related to cancer based on animal models.
response and more after the break
The company that makes perfluorooctanoic acid, DuPont, immediately stated that it would remove it from all commercial products and find an acceptable alternative.
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Yeah, just kidding.
“We disagree with the panel’s recommendation on the cancer classification, and we continue to support the EPA’s draft risk assessment,” said Robert Rickard, director of health and environmental sciences for DuPont.
“This reflects recommended classification; what’s more important is risk, and we are confident that PFOA does not pose a cancer risk to the general public,” added Rickard, who said the carcinogenicity classification was based on animal data and does not reflect data from human studies.
After all, we all know that animal studies are in no way related to human health. That’s why we perform them, so that we can find out about what harms little animals. Who cares about humans, we’re really interested in saving the Mus musculus from suffering.
We can trust the EPA now because of the change in leadership, that’s what a Washington Post story said about Stephen L. Johnson following his appointment announcement. Mr. Johnson has a B.A. in Biology from Taylor University in Indiana and an M.S. in Pathology from George Washington University, Washington, DC. His science career, as highlighted in his biography includes being part of the EPA for 24 years. He was Assistant Administrator of EPA’s Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances (OPPTS) from June 2001 to July 2003. The OPPTS office has responsibility for implementing the nation’s pesticide, toxic substances, and pollution prevention laws. It is ironic that Bush loosened regulations on dumping these very chemicals during Johnson’s term in office. As a career scientist, one might expect him to disagree with this practice.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen Johnson proposed changes to the Toxics Release Inventory Program (TRI) in October 2005 that would significantly decrease the information that the public and state and local officials have about harmful chemicals released into New Jersey’s water, air, and land.
The EPA is now headed by a career scientist, whose first priority is to the good of mankind and not to politics.
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Nah, not really.
Bush said Johnson would balance environmental concerns with economic imperatives: “His immediate task is to work with Congress to pass my Clear Skies initiative. . . . Congress needs to get it to my desk this year.”
Clear Skies Initiative – Bad for the Environment, Bad For People, Good for Corporations
February 6, 2006 – President Bush’s 2007 budget for the Environmental Protection Agency reflects the need for spending restraint while accelerating environmental protection, maintaining economic competitiveness and strengthening homeland defenses.
“EPA shares in the responsibility of being good stewards of our nation’s environment, and good stewards of our nation’s tax dollars,” said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson. “This budget fulfills every presidential environmental commitment and maintains the goals laid out in EPA’s Strategic Plan, while spending less.”
I’m sure that’s true, it’s not hard to fulfill the environmental commitments of a President that pulled out of Kyoto, eased restrictions on dumping arsenic and mercury, and doesn’t believe in global warming. The FY2006 budget is smaller for EPA and includes The president’s budget requested $184 million for EPA Homeland Security efforts, an increase of $55 million over the FY 2006 enacted budget. So, that means that $55 million in EPA funding for other things is effectively gone.
As the day rolls on I will try to find out what programs are being cut under the EPA budget, this should be fun.
Back to the Fried Eggs. In effect, we have a lackey agency saying that teflon is okey-dokey and a panel of Ph.D. experts convened by the lackey agency saying Uh-uh! So, who would you trust? The guys that think dumping MORE chemicals leads to clean skies, or the fellas that can convert Moles into grams? I used to be able to do that, where is my factor label conversion?
Buy an iron skillet.
They are cool, they are good for you,
Cooking foods in iron skillets or steel cookware may improve iron content of foods. Interestingly, because dried peaches and raisins are prepared in iron pans, these fruits contain more iron than their fresh fruit.science not verified
they are a good weapon if you ever get into a Ninja death match in your kitchen,
and some of them are still made right here in the good old U.S.A.
Hee-Yah! Take that you dirty T-bone!
mmmm…i just ate some fried eggs cooked in my non stick pan…i love the way they slide right out and onto my english muffin…
but thats it, im not using any more teflon coated products…..i dont want to taint the delicious and wholesome antibiotics, growth hormones, saturated fats, and pesticide laden foods i eat on a regular basis.
do you realize eggs are chicken vagina juice?
So many things to say.
I would suggest you find the nearest Whole Foods/Earthfare/Organic Co-op and stop buying crap. : )
The free range, antibiotic, pesticide, GH free eggs I buy cost about 20 cents more than yours. Milk is about the same price now. Meat, a little more, but ooh the taste.
As for eggs being chicken vagina juice, that’s just silly snark, right?
Eggs are embryos that are fertilized and then wrapped in calcium as they exit the reproductive tract. The little white dot you see is a non-functional embryo – if you want to be grossed out think of crunching a little chicken each time you eat an egg.
Edible panties taste like crap is funny!
Honey is bee poo. Or maybe it is bee vomit.
Either way, since I can’t have it any more, these thoughts comfort me.
eggs are chicken vagina juice
the yellow part is (usually you hope) non fertilized and technically an egg not an embryo…im pretty sure embryo means fertilized and dividing….the white part is the vagina juice….it collects around the yellow part as it moves down the tract/vagina of the chicken…in the end the calcium forms a shell around it…..but that slimy stuff is definitely vagina juice…dont you see the resemblance?
gives new meaning to “tastes like chicken” eh?
as for heading over to whole foods etc….id burn tons more fossil fuels to get there than the nearest unwholesome foods store…and id have to drive closer to the dupont smokestacks…is that such a good tradeoff?
yes ducttape honey is bee puke
Wait a minute, the yellow part is not the embryo, it is the yolk from which the embryo draws nutrients and grows. However, the embryo is situated as a germinal disc on top of the yellow part. You are correct that it is only called embryo if fertilized.
However, unless you get vagina juice in your uterus, then the white part sure ain’t vagina juice.
Once upon a time I knew all this off the top of my head. Now I had to go look it up, how sad.
Not too mention that around the whole manufacturing plant, teflon has migrated into the environment, that the disposed of pans and such breakdown and spread into the aquifers.
Sometimes it’ just makes you want to SCREAM!
All of us, who are supposed to watch what we eat,have one hand tied behind our backs while we cook…..
Seriously. You can buy all organic and then the pan kills you. Or the gas or whatever.
That’s it, I’m going raw : )
do you know how many people choke to death on raw carrots every year?
42?
I prefer scrambled. Death by scrambled is much more humane.
Yeah, I’m about sick of fried eggs – my kids love them. Bleeck. I’m more of a bagel guy anyways.
“That fresh air will kill ‘ya”
He stayed inside as much as possible, drank gallons of Pickwick Ale, smoked like a chimney, ate steak and eggs from an iron skillet, and lived to be 75
Great diary!! 🙂
As to the iron skillets.. when to wash and how?? Mine always get “rusty” even if I dry them. Maybe I haven’t kept them well enough over the years…
We’ve been eating healthier food. New Seasons Market – meaning no more antibiotic injected meat. Organic and locally grown organic food.
I have an idea that if more people DEMANDED stores like New Seasons Market and organic and CLEAN meat fed a vegetarian diet… then the prices would come down due to the demand.
As long as people keep buying fece meat…
We can’t “afford” to continue poisoning ourselves, our children and the planet.
not salt and pepper, but “seasoning” the pan. First thing you do when you buy the skillet, is wash it. Then…heat it up on the burner slowly. When it’s warm..not hot, you rub the inside with oil. Let it cool down, and repeat. After that, every once in awhile, do the same thing. Now it’s a “seasoned pan”.
You can refurbish any iron skillet by these steps.
I oiled them and then put them in the oven… and I do that occassionally when I break them out for camping.. but you know – I don’t think I use them enough to really ever learned how to care for them. I gather that the more one uses them the “nicer” they become(?)
I have a whole set – usually used for camping… time to bring em out.
Once they get really seasoned things stick less. Also, you learn how to cook with them better. For instance, the best steak possible is made in an iron skillet heated on high heat. Throw the steak in and don’t move it. If you move it too early the meat sticks to the pan. Put it in your oven where you have had the broiler fully warmed up. As soon as you put it in, turn the oven up to 400 degrees – broiler off. It takes about 10 minutes for the steak to be perfect. Let it sit for at least five minutes before cutting.
Of course, you will want to marinade the steak ahead of time.
We grill em outdoors, baby! 🙂
True. But, never use soap after you season the first time. Wash with water and salt. Okay, sometimes I add a little soap, but I immediately add more oil and throw it in the oven for 20 minutes at 400 degrees.
Use Peanut Oil as it has the highest smoke point.
AHA that’s the secret to it!!!
Supply and demand. You buy, they produce. That is why WalMart is trying to have the definition of “organic” changed in legislation to allow more chemicals to be added.
I wouldn’t be caught dead in Wal-Mart. I was held hostage in one a few years back.
If I were to go in to Wal-Mart I might as well buy a child and force them to be my slave. Same damn thing.
Keep demanding the good stuff : )