[dimitrios1]

You simply cannot avoid plastics in the US, or probably anywhere in the world at this point. The water we drink, unless we have sourced it ourselves from a spring or well will come into contact with some kind of plastic tube, pipe, component, or bottle.

[scottLobster]

Avoid completely? No, but you can limit exposure. Even if you were living in the 60s when everyone smoked in public/at work/on planes, it was still healthier to not smoke and sit in non-smoking sections where they existed.

In the case of plastics, filtering water helps. Even simple charcoal filters can catch a lot of it. Store your food in glass containers as opposed to plastic. Don't use non-stick cookware, some type of metal + fat works fine once you get a practiced technique. Use a stainless steel thermos, and minimize the amount of time hot liquid comes into contact with plastic components/containers. Heat breaks down plastics more easily and generally results in higher levels of contamination. Cold water passing through a plastic tube in your fridge is probably fine.

[jondwillis]

These are all good suggestions, and I have incorporated many of them in my life.

Even still, food is often grown with and amongst contamination. Your friends and family probably don’t care or know as much as you do, so you get a nice dose when you are over for dinner. So much food is transported in plastic because it is cost-effective. It’s in the water at this point.

Furthermore, in my personal experience, I can get obsessive about avoiding plastic/PFAS. People do not like to be lectured about plastic and PFAS so it is socially draining sometimes.

[dimitrios1]

Well, right. Avoiding is different than limiting.

FYI There are still options for nonstick pans without PFAS: https://www.consumerreports.org/home-garden/cookware/best-fr...

[craftkiller]

Its true that you can get nonstick pans without PFAS, but the suggested nonstick pan on that link is one of the "ceramic" nonstick pans. Those pans get their nonstick property from a silicone coating. The parent and GP comments were discussing avoiding plastics and jumping from plastic to silicone is barely making any progress.

IMO ditch the concept of nonstick pans and just use fat on stainless steel.

[azinman2]

Or carbon steel or cast iron, both of which can effectively become non-stick.

[hh3k0]

> IMO ditch the concept of nonstick pans and just use fat on stainless steel.

Amen. One would be best advised to stick to the tried and true.