Do GreenPan non-stick kitchen gadgets have PFAS?

What GreenPan says and does about PFAS

GreenPan says its Thermolon ceramic nonstick is PFAS-free, and a footnote on the same page narrows that to made without intentionally added PFAS. Those are different claims. Australian consumer group CHOICE measured 120 mg/kg total fluorine on a GreenPan air fryer sold as PFAS-free, and GreenPan’s parent said its own test found no detection at a 50 mg/kg reporting limit, which cannot rule out anything below that level. An Ecology Center lab analysis of one GreenPan pan found a silicon dioxide ceramic coating and no PTFE.

• Brand statementGreenPan writes that its nonstick is PFAS-free and free of what it calls harmful forever chemicals. GreenPan ↗
• Brand statementA footnote on the same GreenPan page narrows the claim, reading "Our PFAS-Free Ceramic Nonstick is Made Without Intentionally Added PFAS". Made without intentionally added PFAS is not the same claim as containing none. GreenPan ↗
• Brand statementOn its blog GreenPan uses the absolute wording "Our ceramic nonstick coating is entirely PFAS-free." GreenPan ↗
• MaterialsGreenPan says the base ingredient for Thermolon is silicon and that the precursors are derived from silicon dioxide. GreenPan ↗
• Independent testThe Ecology Center Healthy Stuff Lab analysed coatings on nonstick pans and reported that the GreenPan sample it tested was coated with a silicon dioxide based ceramic, which is consistent with GreenPan’s claim that it does not use PTFE. Ecology Center Healthy Stuff Lab ↗
• Independent testIn the same Ecology Center study two other brands’ pans were coated with PTFE even though both were marketed as PFOA-free, which is useful context for how often a free-of claim matches the coating. Ecology Center Healthy Stuff Lab ↗
• Independent testCHOICE, the Australian Consumers’ Association, sent a GreenPan air fryer marketed as PFAS-free for fluorine testing and reported a total fluorine result of 120 mg/kg. CHOICE ↗
• Independent testCHOICE added its own caveat that a total fluorine figure cannot distinguish whether the fluorine comes from PFAS or from other sources of inorganic fluorine such as minerals used in ceramic coatings, so the 120 mg/kg result is a flag and not a finding that PFAS is present. CHOICE ↗
• Brand statementAsked about that result, GreenPan’s parent The Cookware Company said the fluorine could have come from the mica present in the topcoat of the ceramic nonstick, and that its own testing showed no detection at a 50 mg/kg reporting limit. A 50 mg/kg limit cannot exclude PFAS below that level. The Cookware Company, via CHOICE ↗
• Brand statementThe company also said it follows US Federal Trade Commission guidance on free-of claims, which it describes as allowing trace amounts at background or trace contaminant levels that have not been intentionally added. The Cookware Company, via CHOICE ↗
• Brand statementGreenPan tells shoppers that Consumer Reports rated GreenPan as free of PFAS. Consumer Reports states in that article that it records nonstick pans as made without PTFE based on the manufacturer’s claims, and that it no longer displays a PFOA-free label in its cookware ratings. Consumer Reports ↗
• Government sourceIn a 2012 case brought by a competitor, the National Advertising Division recommended GreenPan discontinue its PFOA-free claims or modify them to avoid conveying the unsupported message that all PTFE nonstick coatings are made with PFOA, and discontinue its natural and mineral based claims because the product in its final form has been chemically altered. Those recommendations are recorded in a later court filing. Saldivar v. The Cookware Company (USA) LLC, N.D. Cal. No. 5:19-cv-06014, complaint ↗
• Legal caseA 2019 class action recorded GreenPan packaging reading "COMPLETELY TOXIN FREE" and "No PFOA, PFAS, Lead or Cadmium", and alleged that Thermolon’s safety has yet to be conclusively established. That is the plaintiff’s allegation, not a court finding. Saldivar v. The Cookware Company (USA) LLC, N.D. Cal. No. 5:19-cv-06014, complaint ↗
• Legal caseThat case ended in a stipulated dismissal with prejudice as to the named plaintiff in December 2020, so no court ever ruled on whether GreenPan’s PFAS-free or toxin-free claims were true. Order, Saldivar v. The Cookware Company (USA) LLC, N.D. Cal. No. 4:19-cv-06014-JST ↗
• Regulatory filingWashington State now requires manufacturers to report PFAS in cookware and kitchen supplies, with tracking from 1 January 2026 and the first annual reports due 31 January 2027, so no GreenPan filing can exist there yet. Washington State Department of Ecology ↗
• Regulatory filingMinnesota requires reporting of intentionally added PFAS, defined as a class of fluorinated organic chemicals containing at least one fully fluorinated carbon atom. That is the same intentionally added standard GreenPan’s own footnote uses. Minnesota Pollution Control Agency ↗
• Brand statementGreenPan’s recall page lists no active recalls. GreenPan ↗

Sources checked October 1, 2026. A brand statement is the company’s own claim, which we report but have not verified. Our grades are model-based estimates, not lab tests.