2. The "high temperatures" in this context is above the smoke point of most cooking oils. As long as you're not using it for high temperature applications (eg. searing meat), you're fine.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Fear_River#Suspended_soli...
The entire class isnt toxic.
The source they reference [2] says:
> So is teflon safe now?
> Absolutely. PTFE is inert in its solid form and will most likely pass through your digestive system with no issue. In addition, the temperatures used for cooking aren’t typically hot enough to release PTFE fumes into the air – though toxicologists are quick to remind people that overheating Teflon coated cookware is a bad idea.
The source they reference, a dead-but-archived page on the University of North Carolina's website [3], says:
> Assuming you use your cookware appropriately, i.e. not heating it excessively and unattended, always heating the pan with something in it, not scratching off the Teflon and consuming it for dinner, using non-stick pans is relatively safe for humans. Risk of “Teflon flu” due to inhalation of fumes during typical kitchen use is minimal. Ingestion of PTFE is not reported to be toxic and residual PFOA in PTFE-coated pans is minimally transferred to food. However, long-term exposure studies to PTFE-fumes and PFOA have not been conducted so we can’t say that it is completely safe. Regardless, you should keep Larry the bird away from the kitchen.
> If you wish to avoid the Teflon risk altogether, stainless steel and cast-iron pans are recommended alternative, albeit not necessarily non-stick, cooking options.
So it seems to me that it should be fine, though as a layman, I can't determine the veracity of the sources.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polytetrafluoroethylene#Safety
[2] https://www.bhg.com.au/the-truth-about-teflon-are-non-stick-...
[3] http://web.archive.org/web/20180523015658/http://tibbs.unc.e...
Clearly they sold the original formulation as safe, until it wasn't, so why trust the new formulation? To me, it's not worth the gamble when we're discussing a new chemical that's being transferred into all of my food. There are plenty of alternatives with a slight decrease in comfort but the benefit of having been tested for hundreds (or thousands) of years.
So don't leave your teflon cookware in the oven on self-clean cycle and you should be fine, right?
Teflon is not toxic, its used in medical implants. Its made from a gas - tetrafluoroethylene. It has nothing to do with PFAS.