If you love to scrape off the last bit of mac and cheese from the pan, you might have heard the warnings: don’t do it, especially if you’re using a Teflon pan. That crunchy crust could be laced with so-called “forever chemicals” known scientifically as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. They are organic molecules based on a particularly strong bond that links carbon to fluorine atoms. Notoriously hard to get rid of, experts describe them as a health nightmare. In fact, Northeastern Professor Phil Brown calls PFAS the “biggest current toxic problem.”
Contaminants have been on Brown’s radar for over 40 years, with PFAS being a particular focus for the last 13. His interest in contaminants was sparked in 1985 when a link between toxic waste and childhood leukemia in Woburn, Mass., became the subject of his book No Safe Place: Toxic Waste, Leukemia, and Community Action. Discovered back in the 1930s, PFAS were initially a godsend when it came to making sure that things “don’t get stuck” to your frying pan—as the Teflon slogan goes—or that your Scotgard carpet “protects against the things you need to last.”
