Now that hexavalent chromium (chromium-6) has been identified as a known carcinogen, I am now in search of chromium-free cookware. Since stainless is an alloy of iron and chromium-6, it is a likely cause of hexavalent chromium migration into our body, which can cause cancer, and possibly diabetes.
Cookware That Won't Leach Poison into Your FoodBest cookware options
Stainless Steel:
I'd say stainless steel is about the safest type of cookware you'll find. Stainless steel is made by mixing steel with chromium and nickel.
Well, they are wrong here, because to make Stainless steel chromium-6 is needed, which leaches into the food, making the food toxic.
After stainless steel, I'd recommend enameled or well-seasoned cast iron and porcelain cookware.
Well, as pointed out they are wrong on stainless steel, but they might be right on well-seasoned cast iron and porcelain cookware.
Safe CookwareIn one 2013 study scientists tested the leaching of nickel and chromium into foods cooked in stainless steel pans. The study tested stainless steel leaching into tomato sauce over periods of 2 to 20 hours. The findings were as follows:
Longer durations of cooking increased leaching.
New stainless steel leached more than pans that had been used prior to testing.
The 10th cooking cycle resulted in an average of 88 μg of nickel and 86 μg of chromium leached per 126 g serving of tomato sauce.
That makes stainless steel extremely toxic to cook on.
In the
2013 study sited above.
Stainless Steel Leaches Nickel and Chromium into Foods during Cooking
After a simulated cooking process, samples were analyzed by ICP-MS for Ni and Cr. After 6 h of cooking, Ni and Cr concentrations in tomato sauce increased up to 26- and 7-fold, respectively, depending on the grade of stainless steel. Longer cooking durations resulted in additional increases in metal leaching, where Ni concentrations increased 34-fold and Cr increased approximately 35-fold from sauces cooked without stainless steel. Cooking with new stainless steel resulted in the largest increases. Metal leaching decreases with sequential cooking cycles and stabilized after the sixth cooking cycle, although significant metal contributions to foods were still observed. The tenth cooking cycle resulted in an average of 88 μg of Ni and 86 μg of Cr leached per 126 g serving of tomato sauce. Stainless steel cookware can be an overlooked source of nickel and chromium, where the contribution is dependent on stainless steel grade, cooking time, and cookware usage.
Proof, stainless steel cookware is clearly extremely toxic.
Safe Cookware (continued)
Cast Iron Cookware
Cooked foods absorb iron content in cast iron pans. Based on Daily Recommended Intake (RDA) for Iron, this is a good thing for teenage girls and women who are menstruating (both need 15 mg iron per day) and pregnant women (need 30 mg iron per day), but not necessarily for post-menopausal women or adult men (10 mg iron per day) who get enough iron through their diet. Children do not generally need iron supplementation either, needing 10 mg or less per day.
Iron “overload” (hemochromatosis) in adults is a serious condition, but it is usually caused by an underlying hereditary condition in which a person’s iron absorption is abnormally high. (Because the symptoms associated with iron overload are similar to those associated with iron deficiency, it is best to check with your doctor to find out your iron levels before concluding whether you need more or less in your diet). In one study, cast iron added 7 mg iron to acidic foods and 3-4 mg to eggs, so if you are in the low iron-need range, it is definitely worth factoring in the added iron from the pan.
It looks like cast iron cookware might be the safest and even healthiest cookware to use.
url=http://healthybuildingscience.com/2013/11/22/safe-cookware-2/]Safe Cookware[/url] (continued)
Glazed Iron Cookware
The primary concern with glazed iron would the presence of lead in the glaze, but for instance, Le Creuset glazes are lead free, and are therefore considered safe cookware. Inexpensive or imported cookware should only be purchased only with a lead-free guarantee.
Is your cookware killing you?
Some cookware is better than others and some is just plain toxic
Teflon cookware is probably the all-time worst of all cookware. Johns Hopkins Medical Center says the chemical PFOA, used in manufacturing Teflon, is now found in the bloodstreams of nearly everyone in the U.S. Early studies suggest that high PFOA blood levels in humans are linked with cancer, high cholesterol levels, thyroid disease and reduced fertility. Teflon surfaces break down and end up in your food and when heated to high temperatures, emit fumes which cause flu-like symptoms in humans (AKA: polymer fume fever) and can be fatal to birds. Manufacturers have to eliminate PFOA from all cooking products by the year 2015.
Ceramic, enamel, and glass cookware are manufactured with lead. Lead gives these wares shock resistance and color uniformity. The level of lead in each product is set by the manufacturer. Never cook with anything labeled "for decoration only".
Stainless steel cookware is made from a metal alloy consisting of mostly iron and chromium along with differing percentages of molybdenum, nickel, titanium, copper and vanadium. But even stainless steel allows other metals to leach into the foods. The principal elements in stainless that have negative effects on our health are iron, chromium and nickel.
Titanium cookware seems to pose the least health risks and doesn't react with food while cooking. Part of a good cancer prevention plan is to ditch all others and buy high quality titanium cookware. Premium titanium cookware is more expensive but inferior cookware will actually cost more over time.
Chromium-free cookware is more of other metal alloys, such as: aluminum, titanium, copper, and iron.
The most common, and least expensive cookware that is not stainless steel is made of aluminum. Aluminum cookware is often anodized.
Anodizing (also spelled anodising, particularly in the UK, India and Australia) is an electrolytic passivation process used to increase the thickness of the natural oxide layer on the surface of metal parts.
The process is called anodizing because the part to be treated forms the anode electrode of an electrical circuit. Anodizing increases resistance to corrosion and wear, and provides better adhesion for paint primers and glues than does bare metal. Anodic films can also be used for a number of cosmetic effects, either with thick porous coatings that can absorb dyes or with thin transparent coatings that add interference effects to reflected light.
Anodizing is also used to prevent galling of threaded components and to make dielectric films for electrolytic capacitors. Anodic films are most commonly applied to protect aluminium alloys, although processes also exist for titanium, zinc, magnesium, niobium, zirconium, hafnium, and tantalum. Iron or carbon steel metal exfoliates when oxidized under neutral or alkaline microelectrolytic conditions; i.e., the iron oxide (actually ferric hydroxide or hydrated iron oxide, also known as rust) forms by anoxic anodic pits and large cathodic surface, these pits concentrate anions such as sulfate and chloride accelerating the underlying metal to corrosion. Carbon flakes or nodules in iron or steel with high carbon content (high-carbon steel, cast iron) may cause an electrolytic potential and interfere with coating or plating. Ferrous metals are commonly anodized electrolytically in nitric acid or by treatment with red fuming nitric acid to form hard black ferric oxide. This oxide remains conformal even when plated on wire and the wire is bent.
Anodizing changes the microscopic texture of the surface and the crystal structure of the metal near the surface. Thick coatings are normally porous, so a sealing process is often needed to achieve corrosion resistance. Anodized aluminium surfaces, for example, are harder than aluminium but have low to moderate wear resistance that can be improved with increasing thickness or by applying suitable sealing substances. Anodic films are generally much stronger and more adherent than most types of paint and metal plating, but also more brittle. This makes them less likely to crack and peel from aging and wear, but more susceptible to cracking from thermal stress.
History
Anodizing was first used on an industrial scale in 1923 to protect Duralumin seaplane parts from corrosion. This early chromic acid–based process was called the Bengough-Stuart process and was documented in British defence specification DEF STAN 03-24/3. It is still used today despite its legacy requirements for a complicated voltage cycle now known to be unnecessary. Variations of this process soon evolved, and the first sulfuric acid anodizing process was patented by Gower and O'Brien in 1927. Sulfuric acid soon became and remains the most common anodizing electrolyte.
Dual-finishing aluminium
Anodizing can be performed in combination with chromate conversion coating. Each process provides corrosion resistance, with anodizing offering a significant advantage when it comes to ruggedness or physical wear resistance. The reason for combining the processes can vary, however, the significant difference between anodizing and chromate conversion coating is the electrical conductivity of the films produced. Although both stable compounds, chromate conversion coating has a greatly increased electrical conductivity. Applications where this may be useful are varied, however, the issue of grounding or earthing components as part of a larger system is an obvious one.
The dual finishing process uses the best each process has to offer, anodizing with its hard wear resistance and chromate conversion coating with its electrical conductivity.[9]
The process steps can typically involve chromate conversion coating the entire component, followed by a masking of the surface in areas where the Dual-finishing aluminium
Anodizing can be performed in combination with chromate conversion coating. Each process provides corrosion resistance, with anodizing offering a significant advantage when it comes to ruggedness or physical wear resistance. The reason for combining the processes can vary, however, the significant difference between anodizing and chromate conversion coating is the electrical conductivity of the films produced. Although both stable compounds, chromate conversion coating has a greatly increased electrical conductivity. Applications where this may be useful are varied, however, the issue of grounding or earthing components as part of a larger system is an obvious one.
The dual finishing process uses the best each process has to offer, anodizing with its hard wear resistance and chromate conversion coating with its electrical conductivity.[9]
The process steps can typically involve chromate conversion coating the entire component, followed by a masking of the surface in areas where the chromate coating must remain intact. Beyond that, the chromate coating is then dissolved in unmasked areas. The component can then be anodized, with anodizing taking to the unmasked areas. The exact process will vary dependent on service provider, component geometry and required outcome. coating must remain intact. Beyond that, the chromate coating is then dissolved in unmasked areas. The component can then be anodized, with anodizing taking to the unmasked areas. The exact process will vary dependent on service provider, component geometry and required outcome.
Conclusion, anodizing can include chromates, therefore it might be best to avoid anodizing aluminum cookware, unless one can be sure it does not have chromate in the process.
Enamelware
Vitreous enamel, also called porcelain enamel, is a material made by fusing powdered glass to a substrate by firing, usually between 750 and 850 °C (1,380 and 1,560 °F). The powder melts, flows, and then hardens to a smooth, durable vitreous coating on metal, or on glass or ceramics.
The term "enamel" is most often restricted to work on metal, which is the subject of this article. Enameled glass is also called "painted". Fired enamelware is an integrated layered composite of glass and metal.
The word enamel comes from the Old High German word smelzan (to smelt) via the Old French esmail,[1] or from a Latin word smaltum, first found in a 9th-century life of Leo IV.[2] Used as a noun, "an enamel" is usually a small decorative object coated with enamel.
Enameling is an old and widely adopted technology, for most of its history mainly used in jewelry and decorative art.
Since the 19th century the term applies also to industrial materials and many metal consumer objects, such as some cooking vessels, dishwashers, laundry machines, sinks, and tubs. ("Enamelled" and "enamelling" are the preferred spellings in British English, while "enameled" and "enameling" are preferred in American English.)
Industrial enamel application
Main article: Industrial porcelain enamel
On sheet steel, a ground coat layer is applied to create adhesion. The only surface preparation required for modern ground coats is degreasing of the steel with a mildly alkaline solution. White and colored second "cover" coats of enamel are applied over the fired ground coat. For electrostatic enamels, the colored enamel powder can be applied directly over a thin unfired ground coat "base coat" layer that is co-fired with the cover coat in a very efficient two-coat/one-fire process.
The frit in the ground coat contains smelted-in cobalt and/or nickel oxide as well as other transition metal oxides to catalyze the enamel-steel bonding reactions. During firing of the enamel at between 760 to 895 °C (1,400 to 1,643 °F), iron oxide scale first forms on the steel. The molten enamel dissolves the iron oxide and precipitates cobalt and nickel. The iron acts as the anode in an electrogalvanic reaction in which the iron is again oxidized, dissolved by the glass, and oxidized again with the available cobalt and nickel limiting the reaction. Finally, the surface becomes roughened with the glass anchored into the holes.
