Want to avoid forever chemicals? Here are nine of the best PFAS-free frying pans

Reducing forever chemicals in your kitchen is difficult, but possible. To help you start, we’ve rounded up the top non-toxic pans for Pancake Day and beyond. The best kitchen knives for every job – chosen by chefs. The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more.

Whether you’re making pancakes, seared steaks or fluffy omelettes, a frying pan that sizzles food without sticking to it is a kitchen necessity. Yet health and environmental concerns about non-stick coatings and “forever chemicals” are making it increasingly complicated to pick the perfect pan.

Manufacturers of non-stick coatings insist they’re perfectly safe, but a growing number of companies are advertising their products as PFOA- or PFOS-free, all the same. So what are these controversial chemicals, and what’s the alternative if you don’t want your food to stick?.

For the uninitiated, per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of chemicals that have been added to various consumer products, including cookware, since the 1950s. There are thousands of these chemicals, and they’re extremely useful, allowing dirt, grease – and eggs – to slide off surfaces. But once thrown away, it can take hundreds or even thousands of years for PFAS to degrade, which is why they are often referred to as “forever chemicals”. They can also leach out of landfill to contaminate soil and water, and accumulate in the tissues of living things over time. That can “threaten the wellbeing of species already struggling under mounting environmental pressures,” says Hannah Evans, a project manager at the environmental charity Fidra.

A handful of PFAS that have been researched in depth have been linked to health issues such as cancer, immune system disorders and fertility problems. This EPA report is a reputable source and provides a good overview of the knowns and unknowns. However, most of these chemicals are understudied, meaning their health and environmental impact is unknown. Some may be perfectly safe, including the PTFE- or Teflon-based coatings that are often sprayed on to pans to make them non-stick – although additional PFAS may have been used to manufacture them.

There are questions about their toxicity. For example, tetrafluoroethylene is used to make PTFE and the US National Institutes of Health lists it as “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen”. GenX is another chemical used to make Teflon and other types of PTFE. The US Environment Protection Agency has concluded that it may also be carcinogenic, based on animal studies.

Because we can be exposed to PFAS in so many ways, and it is difficult to identify specific “causes and effects” for individual chemicals, many campaigners believe it is better to be safe than sorry – particularly when PFAS-free alternatives exist. Fidra and others are calling for a group-based restriction on all non-essential uses of PFAS in the UK, including frying pans. The good news is that alternative non-stick coatings are available, as are other types of frying pans that have no coatings at all, such as stainless steel or cast iron pans.

Here’s our roundup of the best PFAS-free crepe pans and all-purpose frying pans for Pancake Day and beyond. £58.78 at Nisbets. £58.87 at Amazon. Crafted in France from carbon steel, which heats up quickly and conducts heat well, fans of the De Buyer Mineral B crepe pan say it helps make an authentic French-style crepe with crispy edges. Like cast iron, it can withstand high temperatures, but it’s lighter, making it easier to toss pancakes. It can also be used for cooking dosas, injera and searing vegetables. The pan is oven safe for up to 10 minutes at 200C.

Carbon steel needs regular seasoning with oil, and this pan needs to be pre-seasoned before its first use. It should be cleaned only with a damp cloth and must be thoroughly dried and oiled before storage. Follow these instructions, and you’ll be rewarded with a crepe pan that builds up a dark patina and becomes more non-stick with time. This pan comes with a two-year guarantee.

£54.40 at GreenPan. £68 at John Lewis. This specialist crepe pan is light and shallow and helps create delightfully flippable pancakes that slide off the surface with ease. It features GreenPan’s Thermolon non-stick coating, and it is suitable for all hob types.

GreenPan is verified PFAS-free by Fidra, and the key material in its non-stick cookware is silicon dioxide – which is also found in natural sand. The brand claims its non-stick coating is heat-resistant up to 450C (850F), oven-safe up to 220C (425F) and dishwasher-safe. Even so, it recommends using its pan on a low to medium heat, using a small amount of oil – but not olive oil – or butter rather than cooking sprays, hand-washing with a soft cloth, and avoiding metal utensils to help preserve the coating.