A forever chemical, a forever pan?
When we first started making our black iron cookware here at Netherton Foundry, we made the decision not to use chemicals or plastics, but to use natural, renewable or recyclable materials.
These include the iron pan bodies and handles, the oak handles and knob and our organic flax oil for the seasoning.
The wax oil on our local oak handles and knobs is a clear, food safe finishing oil made from a blend of natural vegetable oils and waxes. This means that your pan should last at least one, if not several lifetimes, which is the kind of forever we prefer. A Netherton pan can be re-seasoned time and again, using natural oil, can be repaired and as a last resort can readily be recycled.
On the other hand, we find impact of alternative coatings, the evolution of the modern approach to convenience and supposed ease of use. PTFE, PFOA and now PFAS – the acronyms drop like confetti, although the impact is considerably less pretty and a lot longer lasting than coloured tissue paper in the churchyard. Chemical coatings have many names and like food additives are not only best avoided, but are also unpronounceable and thus reduced to more innocent sounding and obscure abbreviations.
The following quote is from a Guardian article by Leana Hosea and Rachel Salvidge earlier this month. “The cost of cleaning up toxic forever chemical pollution could reach more than £1.6tn across the UK and Europe over a 20-year period, an annual bill of £84bn, research has found.
PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), commonly referred to as “forever chemicals” are a family of more than 10,000 human-made substances. Manufactured by a handful of companies, they are widely used in consumer products and industrial processes.
They can be found in nonstick pans, pizza boxes, cosmetics, waterproof clothing, firefighting foam and pharmaceuticals, among other places. The properties that make them so useful – heatproof, greaseproof and waterproof – also have fateful downsides. Almost indestructible without human intervention and persistent in living organisms, PFAS have been linked to infertility, cancers, immune and hormone disruption, and other illnesses.”
Increasing understanding and awareness of this makes scary and alarming reading, and reiterates things we have known for a long time. It also strengthens and confirms our resolve to carry on doing things our way.
Here are two of our stories highlighting our concerns and brought to public notice in the Wall Street Journal and in the cinema.
