• Precautions should be taken with non-stick cookware.cooking image by Daria Miroshnikova from Fotolia.com
  
  Non-stick cookware makes cooking a breeze and is easy to clean, but it has been scrutinized in recent years with concerns about the cookware's dangerous chemical emissions. A panel of scientists working with the Environmental Protection Agency concluded in 2006 that a perfluorochemical used in non-stick cookware is a cancer-causing agent. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a chemical used in making non-stick cookware, has been linked to birth defects and cancer in animals and was discovered in the blood of 95 percent of Americans who were tested, which included pregnant women. While using nonstick cookware, certain precautions should be taken.
  
  

Avoid High Heat

• The Environmental Working Group reported that non-stick cookware was able to reach 700 degrees in three to five minutes and released 15 toxic chemicals and gases, which included two carcinogens. They also found internal documents from DuPont, the company that makes Teflon non-stick cookware, that reported that toxic particles given off at temperatures as low as 464 degrees may kill birds. At high temperatures, the non-stick coating may begin to deteriorate, discolor, lose its non-stick quality and give off fumes. Cooking oil, butter and other fats will begin to scorch and smoke. The released fumes can produce flu-like symptoms that are a result of overheating the non-stick cookware to more than 500 degrees. Non-stick cookware should only be used on low or medium heat.
  
  

Never Heat Empty Non-Stick Cookware

• The Good Housekeeping Research Institute tested three empty non-stick pans and discovered they reached temperatures greater than 500 degrees in less than five minutes, with the most lightweight pan reaching temperatures greater than 500 degrees in less than two minutes. A pan with oil in it reached 500 degrees in two and a half minutes. According to DuPont, 500 degrees is the temperature when the non-stick coatings may begin to deteriorate in appearance and performance.
  
  

Ventilate Kitchen

• When cooking with non-stick cookware, an exhaust fan should always be kept on and windows left open to help clear away any fumes.
  
  

Invest in Heavy Non-Stick Cookware

• Heavier non-stick pots and pans are the safest. In tests of non-stick cookware and chemical emissions, cheap, lightweight non-stick cookware tended to heat-up to dangerous temperatures the quickest.
  
  

Avoid Chipping and Scratching

• Since many non-stick pots and pans can scratch easily, only wooden or plastic cooking utensils should be used to avoid chipping or damaging the pan and potentially releasing toxic compounds. Steel wool scouring pads should also be avoided.
  
  

Replace Damaged or Old Non-Stick Cookware

• Non-stick cookware should be replaced every two years and immediately discarded if it becomes damaged.