Look, I don’t make the news, I just report it.
According to research, a common household habit is having a negative impact on your love life.
Non-stick pans, while convenient and easy to clean, often contain Perfluorooctanoic acids (PFOAs) which damage libido. The presences of PFOA particularly affects men and are even linked to male infertility.
nePFOA is also formed as an unintended byproduct in the production of fluorotelomers and is present in finished goods treated with fluorotelomers, including pots, pans and non-stick papers.
Other sources of PFOA are everywhere: in microwave-popcorn bags, fast-food packaging, shampoo, carpeting, and clothing. Studies show that most of us have PFOA in our bloodstreams, and babies show trace amounts at birth. It is found largely in animals, specifically fish and birds.
Other health risks have been associated with the presence of PFOA.
After a lawsuit against DuPont, researchers began fully examining the effect of PFOA. PFOA is a processing aid that was widely used by many manufacturers to produce a broad range of industrial and consumer products so researchers looked specifically at DuPont’s Washington Works facility in Washington.
At the time the facility produced an estimated total PFOA emissions of 80,000 pounds.
People who lived near the facility were found to have excess levels of PFOA in their system. Individuals who drank more tap water, ate locally grown fruits and vegetables, or ate local meat, were all associated with having higher PFOA levels.
PFOA levels of that magnitude were found to be linked to kidney cancer, testicular cancer, ulcerative colitis, thyroid disease, and pregnancy-induced hypertension.
Luckily, most people are not exposed to such vast levels. For those who do ingest the minute amounts found in cookware, your mojo is likely to be the only thing affected.
