 Another day, another headline about the dangers of a synthetic chemical in our food... This time it's PFOA, or perfluoroalkyl acid -- the non-stick chemical used on cookware surfaces. According to a study just published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine , high levels of PFOA were strongly correlated with an increase in both total cholesterol and LDL 'bad' cholesterol. Typically, high cholesterol is treated with a second chemical intervention -- statin drugs. Statins can produce devastating side effects including kidney and liver damage ( http://selfnews.com/statins.html ), muscle weakness and eye problems. So now we have a situation where people ingesting PFOA chemicals may be inaccurately diagnosed with cholesterol problems and be prescribed dangerous chemical medications that cause even more health problems. This study looked at 12,000 children who were exposed to PFOA through their local water supply which was contaminated with PFOA. It does not prove a link between non-stick cookware and cholesterol, although it suggests a possible link that should probably be researched further. PFOA is on more than just cooking pans PFOA isn't merely found on cooking pans, by the way: Nearly all cooking surfaces for electric consumer food prep appliances are made with it: Sandwich toasters, griddles and even popular cooking devices such as George Foreman Grills. You'll also get PFOA from most restaurants because non-stick cooking surfaces are commonly used to prepare your omelets, pancakes, pasta sauces and many other menu items. Avoiding PFOA is nearly impossible unless you prepare all your own food at home, and even then, you must be extremely careful with what food prep devices you use. Even Swiss Diamond pans which claim that you're 'cooking on diamonds' are actually made with PFOA chemicals ( http://www.selfnews.com/021059.html ). I have avoided non-stick cookware for many years and wouldn't dare prepare any food on such an item made with dangerous chemicals, but most consumers don't know about the dangers of PFOA, and they continue to cook their food with non-stick pans. It gets really dangerous when people use forks or metal spatulas to stir their food in such pans because this action scrapes off microscopic bits of PFOA chemicals that then become lodged in their food and swallowed. My advice is to avoid all non-stick cookware . Buy stainless steel cookware with copper plating on the bottom, which helps disperse heat and prevent burning. Better yet, eat more raw foods and superfood smoothies which require no cooking whatsoever. The mere act of cooking food in a pan, after all, creates carcinogens in the food. The only 'safely' cooked food is steamed or boiled. Anything that subjects foods to very high temperatures -- frying, broiling, grilling, etc. -- results in the creation of cancer-causing chemicals in the food itself. And that's true whether you're using a PFOA pan or not. Sources for this story include: BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11201956 