This article first appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle on Feb.6, 2020

I woke late to the hazards of Teflon after watching “Dark Waters.” The film recounts DuPont’s dumping of Teflon waste into the waters and farmlands of West Virginia. Thousands of people working at the DuPont plant or living nearby developed ailments, such as kidney cancer, colitis, thyroid disease and more. Farm animals died hideous deaths. It was an egregious case of corporate wrongdoing.

One synthetic chemical in Teflon’s toxic brew was PFOA (a long-chain perfluorooctanoic acid). It took a courageous farmer and a dedicated lawyer to reveal its dangers by waging a 20-year legal battle against DuPont.

I watched in disbelief at DuPont’s duplicity. I vaguely recalled news reports about Teflon’s menace, but I’d paid scant attention. My thoughts wandered to my old Teflon pans hanging in my kitchen — the surfaces nicked, the nonstick now sticky: Were they safe — or toxic? When heated to high temperatures of 500-degrees and above, Teflon starts to break down and release fumes, which can cause flu-like symptoms. News reports as early as the 1980s documented deaths of pet birds from Teflon pollution.

Most U.S. companies voluntarily phased out PFOA and a variant PFOS by 2015. But these “forever chemicals” degrade slowly once released into the environment. They bioaccumulate, building up in blood over time. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates trace amounts are in the bloodstream of 98% of Americans.

The latest nonstick pans are heralded as safe. But they come with warnings: never overheat — especially if empty; never use aerosol cooking sprays; no metal utensils, and never scratch the surface. Oops! Who hasn’t accidentally done that?

Some modern nonstick pans are made of newer, largely untested, short-chain synthetic compounds. These include GenX, which is nearly as toxic as PFOA. Tasha Stoiber, a senior scientist with the nonprofit Environmental Working Group (EWG), says, “The more we study them, the more we find the same troubling health effects that we found with long-chain chemicals.”

Given the risks, I switched from nonstick pans to cast iron and stainless steel. I dug up my old carbon steel Wok — splotched with a rusted patina — and scrubbed it clean.

But the threats from these chemicals extend way beyond our kitchens. It’s in the dust on our countertops. It’s in the stain-resistant, waterproof and nonstick stuff we buy — including carpets, clothing, fast-food wrappers and microwave popcorn bags. What other hidden hazards had I missed?

A great deal, as it turns out: Water supplies in dozens of U.S. cities are contaminated with synthetic compounds — known collectively as PFAS (which include PFOA and PFOS). GenX chemicals are part of that mix, and, because of their molecular structure, “they can travel farther and contaminate more water and soil. And they’re harder to remove from drinking water,” Stoiber says. Her biggest concern is the gross contamination of groundwater from large manufacturing plants, airports and military bases that use firefighting foams laced with PFAS.

In California, an estimated 86 water systems serving about 9 million residents are contaminated with PFAS. Nationwide, EWG estimates that water supplies for 110 million Americans are contaminated.

There are no federally enforceable limits for PFAS. California has adopted its own standards, among other initiatives. San Francisco is the first U.S. city to ban PFAS in single-use food containers.

The U.S. House passed a bill that would designate PFAS as hazardous substances, but the Trump administration has threatened to veto it. The federal government’s delay in protecting our water supply is unconscionable. So is its failure to fully assist in the clean-up of our toxic waters. Our health — and the health of our planet — depend on it.