PTFE

Basics

• An abrreviation for Polytetrafluoroethylene
• Sold Under the Brand Name Teflon
• An Engineering Plastic
• A Floropolymer that is highly chemical resistant, and has low friction
• Hard to work with, but it can be SLA Printed or Chemically coated on materials
• Useful for chemistry equipment, medical equipment, nonstick coatings, and low friction componets

Safety

• TLDR: Not the WORST (ie on a scale from Deionized Water to Dimethyl Mercury / or Sulfur Mustards (ie critical to life + benign TO toxic and no real use) it's probably a 4) but not the best and tied to some VERY NASTY related/required chemicals so best to avoid it if possible ( Reduce / Substitution / Precautionary Principle etc)
  • Also special note that as with the Canary in the Coal Mine , at high temperatures "Teflon Coated" / Nonstick Pans release some "nasties" that aren't bad enough for humans (at least in the Acute sense), but ARE lethal to Birds and such, so be careful about that
• For a pretty good communication of the state of current understanding, the videos (linked under this page's external links section) by Veritassium (YouTube Channel) and Adam Ragusea (YouTube Channel)
  • TLDW is PTFE is mostly fine, PFAS though are gnarly, ESPECIALLY Occupational Exposure
    • So manage exposures + be careful on that, but most "average joes" are alright

Internal Links

• Forever Chemicals
  • (PTFE is considered one, along with PFAS and others)
• Fluoropolymers
  • The family of Polymers PTFE Falls into, along with ETFE and Fluoroelastomers

External Links

• The Wikipedia Page on Polytetrafluoroethylene
• A Video by the YouTube Channel "Verutassium" Titled "How One Company Secretly Poisoned The Planet" ( ~54 Minute Watch )
• A Video by the YouTube Channel "Adam Ragusea" Titled "Nonstick is prob safe — the factories aren't (PFAS contamination)" ( ~15 Minute Watch )