Chemours.com

Safety of Teflon™ Nonstick Coatings

Worry About What to Make for Dinner—Not What You’re Using to Cook It

For more than 50 years, Teflon™ nonstick coatings have been used in cookware and bakeware. We put all our products through a rigorous testing process during each step of the supply chain to make sure you’re getting the safest, most durable products that carry the Teflon™ brand name.

To keep your nonstick coatings performing well:

  • Avoid preheating nonstick pans on high heat without food in them—always start at a lower temperature using a fat like oil or butter or with the food already included. Empty pots and pans reach high temperatures very quickly, and when heated accidentally over 348 °C (660 °F) the coating can begin to deteriorate. Butter, fats, and cooking oils begin smoking at 204 °C (400 °F).
  • Do not use nonstick cookware and bakeware in ovens hotter than 260 °C (500 °F). Higher temperatures can discolor the surface of coating or cause it to lose some of its nonstick properties.
  • Use your stove’s exhaust fan when cooking.
  • Use a stove burner that matches the size of the pan bottom.
  • Remove any cookware or bakeware stored in your oven before using an oven's self-cleaning setting.
Cookware Temperature, °F Cookware Temperature, °C Cooking Use
212 100 Boiling point for water
325-400 163-204 Normal range for baking cookies, cakes, etc.
400-470 204-243 Normal range for pan-frying meat
450 232 Roasting poultry or vegetables
500-550 260-288 Broiling*

*Chemours does not recommend using cookware coated with Teflon™ nonstick for broiling or cooking at temperatures typically used to broil food.

Teflon™ nonstick coatings are designed to not chip, peel, or flake. If, in a rare instance, a person accidentally ingests a flake of nonstick coating, the flake is non-toxic and would pass through the body without being absorbed. Based on the inert characteristics of the coating, data indicates that there are no health effects from the incidental ingestion of nonstick coating flakes.

Teflon™ Nonstick Coatings Comply with Global Regulations

When it comes to Teflon™ nonstick coatings:

  • The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that products made with perfluorinated compounds (PFC), including nonstick cookware, are safe for consumer use.
  • Regulatory agencies that include the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), European Food Safety Authority, and the French Food Safety Agency (ANSES) affirm their positions that these nonstick coatings pose no safety hazard when used as intended in cookware.