By the 1970s, both sugary toothpaste and Teflon frying pans were out – considered a problem rather than a solution. In the first case, the verdict was voiced by dentists. In the second, science suggested, among other things, that the fluorinated coating could be toxic when overheated.
Related: Let’s have Teflon for lunch
But now, putting two and two together – toothpaste and Teflon – there seems to be good news, both for chefs and for children. According to a UK research team writing in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, its newly found treatment process breaks apart the plastic’s strong carbon-fluorine bond and allows the components to be converted into a protective toothpaste fluoride or added to drinking water.
It’s a circular solution both eco-friendly and inexpensive, the team says. One that the households of the 1950s could never have dreamt of.
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