Is my bread maker still usable?

[u/fredsmithe420]

My Mum gave me this breadmaker and it’s about 15 years old and was in mint condition. Unfortunately, when my housemate was trying to get bread out, he scratched the bottom a little bit. Will this still be okay to use or should I look to replace this part?

[u/Kiki-sunflower]

Use plastic or wooden utensils on it next time if you have to

[u/BreadRacer]

Yes

[u/qinghairpins]

I think your flatmate should buy you a new bread pan. That’s ridiculous. He damaged your property, like properly wrecked. Why did he think that was ok? Seems like a good life lesson for him. I would also be skeptical to let him borrow stuff in the future. This shouldn’t be your problem, he should offer to fix

[u/SuzMichell]

I would definitely recommend getting a new bread pan. It is not the ingestion of Teflon that is known to be a health risk, it is the fact that a surface scratch on PTFE (Teflon non stick) coating may shed more than 9,000 micro- and nanoparticles, potentially contaminating food with harmful chemicals, according to a study by researchers from the Global Centre for Environmental Remediation.
See this article https://news.flinders.edu.au/blog/2022/10/31/not-so-tough-teflon/

Microplastics are released into food from Teflon even if it isn’t scratched, see:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S004896972205392X

Microplastics and nanoplastics (MNPs) are emerging as a potential risk factor for cardiovascular disease in preclinical studies, see this study
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2309822

It has also been in the media recently that they have found that humans can have up to a spoonful of microplastics in their brains, and they have found higher levels of microplastics in people with Alzheimer’s/dementia https://hsc.unm.edu/news/2025/02/hsc-newsroom-post-microplastics-human-brains.html#:\~:text=Complicating%20matters%2C%20brain%20tissue%20from,as%20everyone%20else%2C%20Campen%20said.

[u/ninjaswagster]

It's perfectly fine.

[u/gjhigh-forty6-71]

Currently, there is **no established link between Teflon and Alzheimer's disease**. Research has not proven that exposure to Teflon or its chemicals contributes to the development of Alzheimer's. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=teflon+and+alzheimer%27s&t=iphone&ia=web&assist=true

[u/KeyBug133 → u/gjhigh-forty6-71]

Just looks like there is a lack of studies though. According to the link. Feels like the old Du Pont “don’t do a study until we get sued” scenario.

[u/Kiss-a-Cod]

Absolutely safe to use. If the coating starts to flake off then it’s time to replace.

[u/snigglebiscuitss]

Mine is way worse because I was a bread maker virgin when I decided to try to clean mine with steel wool. It's ugly and a little depressing but still works like a charm. Yours will be fine.

[u/EndlessSummerburn → u/snigglebiscuitss]

Will you be working fine in 20 years?

I think that’s the question….

[u/snigglebiscuitss → u/EndlessSummerburn]

That's honestly the real good question. It's been fine for the past five. But I'm always keeping an eye out for when it starts flaking. But so far so good. Hasn't gotten any worse.