DuPont has a history of shady business and sacrificing health over profits. If you think Teflon is bad, wait until you read up on the history of this terrible company that puts it right up there alongside Monsanto and Bayer, in-fact I would argue they're in a league of their own as one of the worse companies to ever exist.

I actually went through a period a while ago where I was writing a thought-piece on DuPont and there is a tonne to write about with this shady company. I never did finish what I was writing, but I did a lot of research into this company.

DuPont was the largest producer of war supplies in World War II (many incorrectly believe it was Monsanto, but it was DuPont). You know that horrendous atomic bomb that killed and affected generation upon generations in Hiroshima and Nagasaki? DuPont helped build them and during WWII they produced approximately 4.5 billion pounds of explosives for the US military.

War profiting aside (because what large companies didn't profit from WWII?) in 1999 DuPont became the largest seed company and producer of GMO corn and soy. Once again, people assume Monsanto has the monopoly on GMO seeds, but DuPont is right up there (seeds and pesticides).

Back to Teflon. The reason it's so toxic is due to the chemical Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) or known by it's less scary name C8 used in the production of Teflon actually build up in your body over time and can have serious long-term effects, capable of being passed from mother to baby. It's scary stuff, legitimately scary.

They have done studies on workers in DuPont manufacturing plants where Teflon is produced and the concentration of C8 found in workers bodies was extremely high. And even though C8 is acknowledged as carcinogenic, there still is no safe exposure level defined for this chemical (ideally zero is the safe level).

You can't beat a good old-fashioned cast iron pan and some oil or butter to stop food sticking to it. I am not sure at what point we decided Teflon was the best option, but many people I know who use Teflon pans end up having to use butter or oil anyway when cooking because Teflon pans stay non-stick for about the first two or three times you use them, then they lose their non-stick ability.

There is a reason you never see a professional chef in some of the higher end kitchens (especially Michelin rated restaurants) using Teflon pans, it's always high-quality cast iron pants.

The only good thing that DuPont ever did was create Kevlar.