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PFAS?
Don't know much about them.
That's the problem, the main people who do are the companies profiting. Something something conflict of interest
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PFAS
TL;DR - Teflon, plus other chemicals, but particularly Teflon
Isn't Teflon itself fine though? My understanding was it was the chemicals used during manufacturing of Teflon that were the problem.
You can also get some ill effects if you exceed temp limits
Teflon itself is technically "fine" if you ignore that it's a forever chemical on its own. The chemicals used in the manufacturing, and the chemicals used to make a notoriously non-stick material stick to things are the big issues.
But like the other commenter said, even Teflon, despite its hydrophobic and non-stick properties, eventually wears out and spreads micro particles everywhere.
Here's a Veritasium deep dive (54min) on PFAS and their history. I thought I knew about PFAS, then this video taught me more:
Thank you!
Micro plastics
For all the panicky people:
Microplastics are bad, but they're not remotely close to asbestos bad. Nobody is dying horribly from emphysema because they accidentally contacted microplastics two decades ago. The effects absolutely exist, but they're quite subtle and do not involve suffocating while you cough your lungs out in small pieces.
Gylphosate is bad, but it's mostly bad for the people working directly with it and ignoring every safety precaution (the Venn diagram of those two groups is pretty much a circle). Eating food that was once treated with gylphosate will not be remotely bad for you on any measurable scale.
Source: am chemist, work as a safety professional (independent, no large company is paying me for anything but an occasional audit that is mostly unrelated to chemistry)
But, I'll happily add something that's bad, but not on the level of asbestos. Indoor cooking on fire and/or with poor ventilation. It creates combustion products, releases particulate and smoke and many complex volatiles that are just drifting around in your house for pretty much the entire evening.
Edit: and growing your own food on local soil in a city. That dirt has been collecting pollution for a century, and the odds are pretty decent that it might actually qualify for remediation if you live near anywhere industrial or a big road that's been there for a while. Get your soil tested, or use raised beds if you're growing food.
I'm not panicking, I just had my daily inhaled dose of asbestos dust today, doing a front end alignment. What do you think most brake pads are made with?
Source: Am mechanic, and know what the smell of freshly wet road consists of, which is all sorts of toxic substances, including asbestos dust. And we've all smelled freshly wet pavement before...
What do you think most brake pads are made with?
Today I learned the US allowed asbestos brakepads till mid 2024. Jesus fucking christ people.
Well, they literally tried to (partially) deregulate asbestos, as fucking obviously asinine and corrupt of a move as that would be, so...asbestos might end up being your answer. How fucked is that?
Honestly? Oil usage. Everyone knows it's bad, and the only people really in a position to do anything about have a vested interest in leaving things as is.
This sounds exactly like Asbestos.
What oil?
You mean fossil fuel or like sunflower and olive?
The one that's choking the world economy because total output went down 20%
Crude oil and fossil fuel?
They harm the environment.
Got to say the obvious: sugar.
Industry sugar is just very bad for us for multiple reasons but it's used everywhere because of addictive properties.
Go research the sugar cartel and the sugar Vs fat thing which brought the US to fat free stuff which massively raised obesity.
Vape juice
Definitely lungs are for air
If you want a more literal, chemist answer: carbon fiber. Carbon fiber's chemical structure is surprisingly similar to Asbestos. Even though we barely use it for anything due to the difficulty in producing it, it's most likely just as harmful to us as asbestos.
How do you inhale carbon fiber? Are there friable forms?
Most carbon fiber you might see in the world is sealed with resin. But under that resin, it's just sheets of woven or non-carbon fiber fabric. And those fibers are just nanometers thick and can easily puncture cell walls the same way as asbestos.
That's the other thing, too. It's rare to be in a situation where you could inhale it. The only example I can think, which is also a rare situation, is if a vehicle that uses it is involved in some kind of accident and breaks the piece of carbon fiber. That could release it into the air causing you to breathe it in.
I used to work in a ski shop and we would regularly cut down carbon fiber ski poles using a band saw. I think we used a mask... Hopefully
Microplastics.
There's no replacing plastic like we could do with asbestos. We're screwed
this post was submitted on 01 Apr 2026
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