Who knew Teflon pans were dangerous?

Non-stick cooking pans produce chemical toxic gasses that are damaging to humans. Teflon cookware makes cleaning much easier than it used to be, before the invention of the non-stick feature.
Since its creation about forty years ago, we no longer have to scrub the pan's surface vigorously after making food and let it soak for hours. However, with this leisure comes harmful health risks. To be more specific, polytetrafluoroethylene, or PTFE, releases hazardous toxins when the pan heats up. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conducts studies that hopefully will lead to safer cookware. Exactly how dangerous this product design is, has been arguable amongst scientists. Some say that bad toxins are released only if the pan is abused by temperatures too high. This leads to another issue concerning a product and its safety, and how that relates to social responsibility. Is it the designer's error if a product is used incorrectly?

It could be said that it is the user's responsibility to be aware of an object's consequences or risks. Of course, this is debatable and the discussion relies on case-by-case situations and individual items. However, the concept of a product being dangerous points to the relationship between the designer and one who uses the design. Intentional and unintentional consequences are inherent in design in society in general, with the designer making a design with the audience's best interest in mind. People who use the product are making a choice to accept any risks that come with it.

For example, we buy things like non-stick cookware, and a majority of us are unaware or uninformed of its health consequences. With something like a pan emitting toxins, we do not usually notice immediate repercussions of its danger, meaning we do not notice specific symptoms after we eat whatever we just made in the pan. Even if we were to get a headache after eating eggs that we made in a Teflon pan, we probably would not immediately blame the pan as the cause. However, the reality is that ninety-five percent of Americans have PFOA in their bloodstream, probably due to overheating it on the stove.
What makes a design dangerous depends not only on the designer's considerations and ergonomic design, but also on the way in which it is used, considering it's physical components and materials.

With a design that is intended to make our time in the kitchen a better experience, comes downsides and dangerous consequences as far as health. In considering non-stick cookware, it becomes clear that the relationship between the designer and the person using the design, is incredibly important. Safety concerns and constraints are presumably in mind during the design process of objects we encounter, and we must be aware of our social responsibility to use products as they were intended by the designer, taking danger into account. We can only hope that with research and technology, the production of cookware will be improved. In the meantime, be careful not to turn up the heat too high!

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-risks-of-using-teflon-pans.htm
http://health.ninemsn.com.au/whatsgoodforyou/theshow/694373/are-teflon-coated-pans-harmful
Photo: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2005/07/12/nonstick-cookware-cancer.aspx