What Is PFAS? (And Why We Won't Use It)

The honest answer

PFAS are a group of man-made chemicals used for decades in non-stick cookware coatings. They don't break down in the environment or fully clear from the human body — which is why scientists call them “forever chemicals.”

That's not marketing language. It's the term used by the U.S. EPA, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), and the World Health Organization. Here is what is actually known, with sources, so you can judge for yourself.

1

What PFAS Actually Is

PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) is a family of over 10,000 synthetic chemicals. In cookware, the relevant ones are PTFE (the coating itself, commonly known by the brand name Teflon) and PFOA, historically used to manufacture that coating.

The carbon-fluorine bond that makes non-stick coatings slippery and heat-resistant is also one of the strongest bonds in organic chemistry. It is extremely slow to break down — in the environment, and in the body.

2

What the Science Says About Health Risk

In December 2023, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) — the WHO's cancer research arm — classified:

Group 1 · Carcinogenic

PFOA

Same category as asbestos and tobacco smoke, based on evidence linking it to renal cell carcinoma (kidney cancer) and testicular cancer.

Group 2B · Possible

PFOS

Classified as “possibly carcinogenic to humans” by the same IARC review.

Beyond cancer, health agencies including the U.S. EPA and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) have linked PFAS exposure to:

  • Reduced response to vaccines in children
  • Changes in liver enzymes and cholesterol levels
  • Thyroid disease
  • Pregnancy-induced hypertension
Two important caveats, in the interest of being accurate rather than alarming: this evidence largely concerns long-term, elevated exposure (much of it from contaminated drinking water near manufacturing sites), and a coated pan is one of many possible sources, not the only one. But cookware is a source you can remove from your kitchen today — which is the point of this page.
3

What Regulators Are Actually Doing About It

This is not a fringe concern. European and U.S. regulators have been phasing PFAS out for two decades:

  • 2006PFOS restricted EU-wide.
  • 2017PFOA and PFHxS restricted EU-wide.
  • 2023Five EU member states submitted a proposal to ECHA to restrict the entire PFAS class — not just individual chemicals — across consumer products.
  • From August 2026The EU's Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation bans PFAS above set concentration limits in food-contact packaging.

In short: the direction of travel in food-contact regulation is toward less PFAS, not more, and cookware coatings are explicitly part of that conversation.

4

Where PFAS Commonly Hides in Cookware

Even cookware marketed as “non-toxic,” “green,” or “ceramic” can still use PTFE-based layers underneath, or PFAS-containing release agents in manufacturing. “PFOA-free” labelling (common since the U.S. PFOA phase-out) does not mean PFAS-free — it usually just means one specific chemical in the PFAS family was swapped for another.

The only way to be certain a pan contains none of it is a cooking surface with no coating at all.

5

Why AZURA Cookware Doesn't Use It

Our hand-hammered titanium pans have no coating to begin with — nothing to apply, nothing to wear off, nothing to end up in your food.

  • No PFAS
  • No PTFE
  • No PFOA
  • Not “reduced.” None.

That's the entire design decision behind this pan: remove the coating, and you remove the question.

See the titanium pan →

Sources

  • IARC / WHO, “IARC Monographs evaluate the carcinogenicity of PFOA and PFOS,” December 2023.
  • The Lancet Oncology, “Carcinogenicity of perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid,” 2023.
  • U.S. EPA — PFAS health effects overview.
  • ATSDR — Toxicological Profile for Perfluoroalkyls.
  • European Commission, Directorate-General for Environment — PFAS pollution overview, and the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation.
  • ECHA — Universal PFAS restriction proposal, submitted by Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and Norway, 2023.

This page is for general information and is not medical advice. It reflects publicly available regulatory and scientific sources as of 2026.