# Do Air Fryers Contain PFAS? Nonstick Baskets, PTFE, and PFAS-Free Air Fryer Options

- Author: No More Forever Chemicals
- Published: October 19, 2026
- Last updated: October 19, 2026
- Category: PFAS & Health

## Key takeaways

- Philips' U.S. support page says air fryer pans, baskets, meshes, baking trays, grilling racks, and the pizza plate are mostly coated with nonstick PTFE, and that the coatings are PFOA-free. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency says Teflon is PTFE and one member of the PFAS family.
- SharkNinja's California disclosure list, updated October 6, 2026, lists PTFE as the nonstick coating on named air fryer series manufactured before August 15, 2024. The later air-fryer rows do not name PTFE. The company's 2025 ESG report says air fryer pots and crisper plates moved to PFAS-free food-contact coatings in 2024.
- The FDA says PFAS used as nonstick coatings on pots and pans are polymerized and bound at very high temperatures, and that studies show negligible amounts can migrate into food. Poison Control says a PTFE coating starts to break down above about 500°F.
- Minnesota's agency treats an air fryer as cookware under the 2025 sale ban when a pan, tray, baking sheet, or grill piece has a nonstick coating with intentionally added PFAS. California AB 1200 requires disclosure of designated chemicals on a cookware food-contact surface and limits free-of claims.

**Quick answer:** Some air fryers contain PFAS in the form of a PTFE nonstick basket. PTFE is the fluoropolymer sold under the Teflon name. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency says Teflon is one member of the PFAS family. A line that says only "PFOA-free" can be true of a basket that still has PTFE. Philips says many of its baskets are coated with nonstick PTFE and that the coatings are PFOA-free. SharkNinja's California disclosure lists PTFE as the nonstick coating on named air fryer series made before August 15, 2024. The company's 2025 report says later air fryer pots and crisper plates moved to PFAS-free food-contact coatings. The FDA's migration statement is about polymerized nonstick on pots and pans, and it is a different question from breathing fumes when PTFE is overheated. Poison Control says that breakdown starts above about 500°F.

Below is what those pages actually say, which state rules name cookware, and how a glass container, a ceramic-coated basket, and an uncoated stainless basket differ. Pan materials are compared in the [PFAS-free cookware guide](/post/best-pfas-free-cookware-nonstick-pan-alternatives-compared). Parchment, including what a paper claim does not prove, is in the [parchment and food-storage guide](/post/is-parchment-paper-pfas-free-safer-food-storage-and-baking-swaps).

## Do air fryers contain PFAS?

Some do, when the surface that touches food is a PTFE nonstick coating. PTFE is a fluoropolymer. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's page on the 2025 prohibitions says Teflon is the trademarked brand name for polytetrafluoroethylene, one member of the PFAS family, and that Teflon will be prohibited from use in cookware. Minnesota's statute defines PFAS as a class of fluorinated organic chemicals containing at least one fully fluorinated carbon atom.

That is a materials fact about the coating. It is not a count of every air fryer on sale. This guide did not find a government survey that says what share of air fryers use PTFE. The verifiable record is what manufacturers publish for named models.

Philips' U.S. support article, "What materials and coatings are used in my Philips Airfryer?", says the pans, baskets, meshes, baking trays, grilling racks, and pizza plate are made of steel or aluminized steel and mostly coated with nonstick PTFE. It says some of these coatings may contain PTFE, that the uses comply with food-contact rules and are checked by independent laboratories, and that the coatings are PFOA-free. The page lists model HD9650/90 and says the information applies to additional models. A separate Philips U.S. page about a plastic smell says the pan and basket are PTFE coated and that the appliance reaches temperatures up to 200°C. That page lists models NA555/00, NA330/00, and NA331/00, and says more model numbers are available.

SharkNinja's California chemical disclosure list, last updated October 6, 2026, has a section titled "Air Fryers (Product manufactured pre 8/15/24)." For single-basket and dual-basket series including AF100, AF140, AF150, AF160, AF180, AF300, DZ100, DZ200, DZ300, DZ400, and DZ550, all derivatives, the list names polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), CAS 9002-84-0, and says this chemical provides a nonstick coating. It also names aluminum. A later section, "Air Fryers (Product manufactured post 8/15/24 or purchased post 1/1/25)," lists other chemicals for later units in related series. The air-fryer rows under that later heading do not name PTFE. SharkNinja's 2025 ESG report says the company transitioned heated products, with air fryer pots, multi-cook pots, and crisper plates given as examples, to PFAS-free food-contact surface coatings in 2024, and that it finished the remaining cookware lines in 2025. Those are the company's disclosure and the company's report. They are not a lab slip for the unit in a particular kitchen. A basket made before August 15, 2024 can still be the PTFE version of a model name that later changed.

## Is the nonstick basket coating the same thing as Teflon?

When the maker names PTFE, yes. Teflon is a brand name for PTFE. Philips uses the words "non-stick PTFE" for the baskets on the support page above. SharkNinja's pre-August 15, 2024 air-fryer rows use PTFE and the phrase "non-stick coating."

A listing that says only "nonstick" has not named the chemical. Cosori's user manual for the TurboBlaze model CAF-DC601-KUS says the basket and crisper plate are aluminum metal with a nonstick coating. The manual does not say PTFE, ceramic, or PFAS-free. The product page for that same model says to put the "PFAS-free ceramic-coated, nonstick basket and crisper plate" in the dishwasher. Two official Cosori documents for CAF-DC601-KUS describe the coating differently. This guide does not have a third document that settles the chemistry, so it does not call that basket PTFE and it does not call it PFAS-free.

The FDA's page on authorized PFAS uses in food contact puts nonstick coatings in a different group from grease-proofing on paper. Since the 1960s, the FDA has authorized specific PFAS-containing substances for food contact. The four groups are nonstick coating applications, sealing gaskets for food-processing equipment, manufacturing aids, and grease-proof agents for paper food packaging. The FDA says current data indicate that only the paper and paperboard agents would result in dietary exposure that may raise a potential safety concern. For nonstick on pots and pans, the FDA says the PFAS molecules are polymerized, applied at very high temperatures so the coating is tightly bound, and that the process drives off virtually all of the smaller molecules that could migrate. The page says studies show negligible amounts of PFAS in this coating can migrate to food.

That FDA paragraph is about nonstick coatings on pots and pans. It does not name air fryer baskets. Philips says its air fryer nonstick is a food-contact coating checked against food-contact legislation. Read the FDA sentence as the agency's migration finding for that kind of polymerized coating, and read the basket claim on the model in front of you.

## What does "PFOA-free" on an air fryer really mean?

It means the claim is about PFOA, perfluorooctanoic acid. PFOA was a processing aid used to make PTFE. In 2006 the U.S. EPA asked eight major companies to join the 2010/2015 PFOA Stewardship Program. The goals were a 95 percent reduction in facility emissions and product content of PFOA, related precursors, and higher homologues by 2010, measured from a year-2000 baseline, and work toward eliminating those chemicals from emissions and product content by 2015. EPA's fact sheet says all eight companies submitted commitments, and that all participating companies state that they met the goals. EPA's later risk-management page says all of the companies have met the goals.

A PTFE coating made after that program can be PFOA-free and still be PTFE. Philips' materials page says both things in consecutive bullets: some of the nonstick layers may contain PTFE, and the coatings are PFOA-free. Minnesota's agency still classifies that PTFE as a PFAS. The words to look for, when the question is the family, are PFAS and PTFE.

California puts a legal limit on how those words are used for cookware. Health and Safety Code sections 109000 through 109014, enacted as AB 1200, are summarized in an October 17, 2023 enforcement advisory from the Attorney General. Beginning January 1, 2023, a manufacturer shall not claim on the cookware website that the cookware is free of any specific chemical if that chemical belongs to a chemical group or class on the Department of Toxic Substances Control designated list, unless that chemical was not intentionally added. The same limit applies on the package beginning January 1, 2024. The advisory says the designated list includes many PFAS compounds, and that the disclosure rules apply when a listed chemical is intentionally included in the handle or in any surface that contacts food, foodstuffs, or beverages. Section 109010 defines cookware as durable houseware items used in homes and restaurants to prepare, dispense, or store food, including pots, pans, skillets, grills, baking sheets, baking molds, trays, bowls, and cooking utensils. The statute does not use the words "air fryer." SharkNinja and Cosori both publish AB 1200 disclosures that include air fryers.

## Can high heat and a PTFE basket cause polymer fume fever?

The illness is real, and the temperature that matters is high. Polymer fume fever, also called Teflon flu, is a flu-like illness from breathing fumes given off when fluoropolymers such as PTFE get hot enough to break down. A StatPearls review on the NIH bookshelf, last updated August 4, 2023, says overheating PTFE-coated nonstick cookware is the most common avenue of exposure. It says PTFE releases fumes at temperatures as low as 260°C (500°F), that symptoms in humans generally do not begin until the material is heated to 350°C (662°F), and that pyrolysis begins at 400°C (752°F). Symptoms generally start within 12 hours, may be delayed up to 24 hours, and generally improve over 24 to 48 hours. The review says death and permanent disability are exceedingly rare, and that there is no good evidence of lasting harm after a single episode. It also says the absence of that evidence should not be treated as proof that a single exposure is harmless.

Poison Control, the National Capital Poison Center, uses the same breakdown point in plain language. It says a Teflon coating starts to break down above about 500°F, and that scratches can lead to fumes being released. Symptoms it lists are chills, fever, fatigue, headache, body aches, and sometimes chest tightness and airway irritation. They generally start within a few hours and usually clear in 1 to 2 days. People with lung disease such as asthma are more likely to get respiratory symptoms. Rare severe cases, including lung damage, have happened when pans were heated very high or the fumes were breathed in an enclosed space for a long time. In 2023, U.S. poison centers received a few hundred reports of Teflon flu. Poison Control says the number of calls has risen, and that the true count is hard to know because the symptoms look like a cold and often pass without a doctor visit. The same page says birds are extremely sensitive and that the first sign in a bird can be sudden death. Keep birds out of the kitchen.

Those pages are about PTFE cookware and fumes. They are not a measurement of the air inside a particular air fryer. The manuals this guide checked publish maximum settings below about 500°F. Cosori's TurboBlaze manual for CAF-DC601-KUS lists a range of 90°F to 450°F. Philips' smell page says the listed models reach up to 200°C, which is 392°F. SharkNinja's glass-air-fryer page lists preset or dial temperatures up to 450°F for the Crispi models. A published maximum is the setting the maker allows. It is not a test of a broken control or of a coating that has already failed.

Poison Control's warning about an empty pan is about a dry pan on a burner that can reach an extremely high temperature. Cooking on high and broiling are in that same warning, and the page says coated cookware is meant for low to medium heat. An air fryer manual can say the opposite about preheating, because the appliance has its own limit. The TurboBlaze manual says to preheat before putting food in, unless the fryer is already hot, and that food will not cook thoroughly without preheating. Follow the manual for that machine. Do not copy the stovetop "never preheat" rule onto an air fryer whose manual tells you to preheat, and do not ignore a manual that sets a lower limit.

Poison Control's care rules still apply to a PTFE-coated basket. Inspect for scratches, peeling, or chipping, and replace damaged cookware. Use wooden, plastic, or silicone utensils, and wash with a soft sponge. The TurboBlaze manual says the same thing in appliance language: the basket and crisper plate have a nonstick coating, and metal utensils and abrasive cleaning materials should be avoided. Ventilate the kitchen. If you see smoke from an overheated nonstick surface, Poison Control says turn off the heat, open windows, and get people and pets out of the area.

## Which state rules cover PFAS coatings on air fryers?

The rules below are sale or disclosure rules. They are not a recall of an appliance you already own, and a statute in one state does not govern a store in another.

**Minnesota.** Minnesota Statutes section 116.943, subdivision 5, says that beginning January 1, 2025, a person may not sell, offer for sale, or distribute for sale in the state listed products if they contain intentionally added PFAS. Cookware is item 3. The statute defines cookware as durable houseware items used to prepare, dispense, or store food, foodstuffs, or beverages, including pots, pans, skillets, grills, baking sheets, baking molds, trays, bowls, and cooking utensils. "Intentionally added" means PFAS deliberately added where their continued presence is desired to perform a function. A later paragraph says the prohibition does not cover a product that contains intentionally added PFAS only in electronic components or internal components. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency says internal components are parts designed and intended not to be touched during intended use or handling.

The agency's current cookware note says it considers cookware to include any product used to prepare, dispense, or store food, foodstuffs, or beverages, and that the prohibition does not include a product whose intentionally added PFAS are only in electronic or internal components. It says the cookware guidance is being updated because of that exemption, and that the intent of earlier guidance, a focus on PFAS on external components, is not changing. It then states that Teflon, PTFE, will be prohibited from use in cookware.

The July 25, 2024 MPCA webinar for retailers and manufacturers says the air-fryer part in so many words. Air fryers are considered cookware if they include a component which is a form of pan, baking sheet, tray, or grill that has a nonstick coating containing intentionally added PFAS. An electric coffee machine is the example the webinar gives of an appliance that does not match the listed items. A PTFE basket is a food-contact surface a person handles. It is not an electronic part hidden inside the housing. The webinar is earlier than the electronic-component exemption. The current agency page says the external-component focus is the part that still stands.

**Colorado.** Senate Bill 24-081, signed May 1, 2024, adds section 25-15-604(3.5). On and after January 1, 2026, a person shall not sell, offer for sale, distribute for sale, or distribute for use in the state listed products that contain intentionally added PFAS chemicals. Cookware is one of those products. Section 25-15-603 defines cookware as a durable houseware product used in residences or kitchens to prepare, dispense, or store food or beverages, including pots, pans, skillets, grills, baking sheets, baking molds, trays, bowls, and cooking utensils. It excludes food equipment intended primarily for commercial settings. The definition does not say "air fryer." This guide did not find a Colorado agency page that copies Minnesota's air-fryer sentence. The Colorado ban is a cookware ban. Whether a given air fryer is cookware under that definition is a reading of the statute, not a sentence this guide can borrow from Minnesota.

**California.** AB 1200 is a disclosure and claim rule for cookware, plus a separate ban on PFAS in plant-fiber food packaging. It is not the cookware sales ban Minnesota and Colorado enacted. The Attorney General's advisory describes the website list that began January 1, 2023, and the product-label list that began January 1, 2024, for intentionally added designated-list chemicals in the handle or on a food-contact surface. The label has to be visible on the online listing as well. The cookware comparison in the [cookware guide](/post/best-pfas-free-cookware-nonstick-pan-alternatives-compared) covers the later California cookware bill that did not become law.

## Which air fryer styles avoid a PTFE coating?

Three styles come up in product claims: a bare stainless basket, a glass container, and a ceramic-coated basket. Each one is a claim about a surface. A stainless housing, a glass window, or the word ceramic on one accessory does not describe the whole appliance.

**Uncoated stainless steel.** A basket with no coating has no PTFE layer to scratch off. The listing has to say that about the basket, or about the food-contact cavity, in those words. "Stainless steel air fryer" is often the outside of the machine. Cosori's Iconic page is an example of the split. Model CAF-SE601S-CUS is sold as a stainless steel air fryer. The product page says the basket is ceramic-coated and nonstick, and that the cooking surfaces are free of PFAS and BPA. A Cosori marketing page for Iconic adds "No PTFE" to "No BPA" and "No PFAS." The stainless steel on that page is the structure. The surface that touches food is the coating the company describes. This guide did not find a current Amazon listing, with an ASIN it could confirm, for an air fryer whose basket is uncoated stainless steel. The search link below is a way to look. Read the basket line before the housing line.

**Glass.** SharkNinja's page for the Ninja Crispi portable glass air fryer says the CleanCrisp glass containers are designed for cooking and storing without PFAS and PTFE. The build page for the Crispi Pro says the containers are borosilicate glass with BPA-free plastic handles, the crisper plates are aluminum with a nano-ceramic coating, and all food-contact surfaces are designed without PFAS and PTFE. The company says it uses independent laboratories for compliance with safety standards. That is the manufacturer's account. This guide does not have a separate public test of the glass. SharkNinja's October 6, 2026 disclosure rows for the FN09X and FN10X air fryers, the Crispi series, do not name PTFE. The glass-air-fryer comparison on SharkNinja's site lists temperatures up to 450°F.

**Ceramic-coated baskets.** A ceramic, or sol-gel, coating is a different material from PTFE when the maker actually uses one and says the coating contains no PFAS. Philips' U.S. materials page shows why the word has to be tied to a part: the baskets are mostly PTFE, and the 7000 Series meshes are the pieces that page describes as ceramic-coated. Cosori's Iconic product page ties "PFAS-free ceramic-coated" to the basket and the crisper plate of CAF-SE601S-CUS. Cosori's TurboBlaze page ties the same phrase to CAF-DC601-KUS, while the manual for that model says only "aluminum metal with nonstick coating." Treat a ceramic claim as the sentence on that model, and notice when the manual and the product page disagree.

The [cookware guide](/post/best-pfas-free-cookware-nonstick-pan-alternatives-compared) makes the same point for pans. GreenPan's listing for the Valencia Pro set says the Thermolon ceramic coating is free of PFAS. That sentence is about those pans. It is not a test of an air fryer basket.

## How do parchment liners and scratched baskets fit in?

Use the manual you have, and keep the paper warning separate from the PFAS question.

Cosori's TurboBlaze manual says never put baking or parchment paper into the air fryer without food on top. Air circulation can lift the paper into the heating coils. The same manual says not to put paper, cardboard, non-heat-resistant plastic, or similar materials into the fryer, and to be extremely cautious with containers that are not metal or glass. That is a fire and contact warning from the maker of one 450°F machine. It is the reason this guide does not recommend dropping a sheet of parchment into an empty basket, and it is the reason this guide does not recommend a silicone liner as a general fix. A silicone cup, mat, or liner has whatever heat rating its own maker prints. This guide did not find an FDA temperature limit written for air-fryer silicone liners.

If you do use parchment under food, the sheet is a paper question. The [parchment guide](/post/is-parchment-paper-pfas-free-safer-food-storage-and-baking-swaps) explains that the FDA's phase-out of PFAS grease-proofing named fast-food wrappers, microwave popcorn bags, take-out paperboard, and pet food bags. It is not a laboratory result for every baking parchment. [If You Care parchment](/products/if-you-care-parchment-paper) is the roll in this directory. The listing describes it as FSC certified, certified compostable, unbleached, and totally chlorine-free. It does not say PFAS-free. Unbleached and chlorine-free describe the paper. They are not a PFAS test.

For a coated basket that is scratched, peeling, or chipped, Poison Control says replace it. That advice is about fumes from damaged PTFE cookware. It is the practical first step if the basket you already own is the PTFE kind Philips and SharkNinja describe for the models above.

## Air fryer and kitchen options compared

| Option | What the source says | Best for | What it does not say |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Ninja Crispi FN101GY](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DDDD8WD6?tag=nomoreforev05-20) | SharkNinja says the glass containers are designed without PFAS and PTFE. The Pro materials note says crisper plates are aluminum with a nano-ceramic coating, and that food-contact surfaces are designed without PFAS and PTFE. | Cooking in glass instead of a PTFE basket | It does not publish a fluorine test in this guide. Other Ninja series made before August 15, 2024 are disclosed with PTFE. |
| [Glass air fryer search](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=glass+air+fryer&tag=nomoreforev05-20) | A category search, not one tested model | Browsing other glass models | A glass window is not a glass cooking container. Read which part is glass. |
| [Stainless steel basket air fryer search](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=stainless+steel+basket+air+fryer&tag=nomoreforev05-20) | A category search | Looking for a basket described as uncoated stainless steel | This guide did not confirm an ASIN. A stainless housing can still hide a coated basket. |
| [Ceramic-coated air fryer search](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=ceramic+coated+air+fryer+PFAS-free&tag=nomoreforev05-20) | A category search | Finding listings that say PFAS-free or PTFE-free on the basket | "Ceramic" on one part is not a PFAS result. Cosori's TurboBlaze page and manual disagree. |
| [If You Care parchment](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001T6JTMY?tag=nomoreforev05-20) | The directory listing says FSC certified, certified compostable, unbleached, and totally chlorine-free | A liner under food, if the air fryer manual allows paper | It does not say PFAS-free. Cosori says never use parchment with no food on top. |
| [LEGEND 5-ply stainless set](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HN3Q81F?tag=nomoreforev05-20) | The listing says food touches steel and describes the set as having no coatings | Stove cooking when you want uncoated steel | It is cookware, not an air fryer. |

### Glass: Ninja Crispi

The [Ninja Crispi FN101GY](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DDDD8WD6?tag=nomoreforev05-20), ASIN B0DDDD8WD6, is the grey portable model. SharkNinja's page for the FN101 says the 6-cup and 4-quart glass containers are for cooking and storing without PFAS and PTFE. The Crispi Pro materials answer, on a related page, is the one that names borosilicate glass and a nano-ceramic crisper plate, and that says every food-contact surface is designed without PFAS and PTFE. Use those sentences as the company's claim for the glass system. The October 2026 disclosure still lists PTFE for older production of other Ninja air fryer series. Match the model and the manufacture date.

### Ceramic-coated: read the model

Cosori's Iconic, model CAF-SE601S-CUS, is the listing this guide could confirm as a ceramic-coated basket the company describes as free of PFAS. The product page says the basket and crisper plate are PFAS-free and ceramic-coated, and the materials answer says the cooking surfaces are free of PFAS and BPA on a stainless steel structure. The marketing page also says no PTFE. This guide does not link an Amazon ASIN for Iconic because it did not confirm one. The [ceramic-coated search](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=ceramic+coated+air+fryer+PFAS-free&tag=nomoreforev05-20) is the browse link.

Cosori's TurboBlaze, model CAF-DC601-KUS, is the caution. The product page says the basket and crisper plate are PFAS-free and ceramic-coated. The user manual says they are aluminum with a nonstick coating and never uses the words ceramic, PTFE, or PFAS. Until those two pages agree, this guide does not treat that model as a PFAS-free option.

### Uncoated steel, on the stove

The [LEGEND 5-ply stainless set](/products/stainless-steel-set) is the uncoated steel set in this directory. The listing says there are no coatings and that food touches steel. It is not an air fryer. It belongs here because "stainless" is a material you can identify, and because the [cookware guide](/post/best-pfas-free-cookware-nonstick-pan-alternatives-compared) compares it with cast iron, enamel, and ceramic pans. The [Lodge 7-quart cast iron Dutch oven](/products/dutch-oven) is the covered cast-iron pot in the directory. Its listing says the pot is made with only iron and oil and describes that cookware as PFAS-free. Neither listing is a basket for an air fryer.

### Parchment

[If You Care parchment](/products/if-you-care-parchment-paper) is the paper in the directory. Use it under food only if the air fryer manual allows parchment at all. The TurboBlaze manual forbids parchment with nothing on top of it.

1. Read the basket, not the housing. PTFE, PFAS-free, ceramic-coated, and uncoated stainless are different sentences.
2. Treat "PFOA-free" as a statement about PFOA. Philips pairs that phrase with a PTFE coating.
3. For a PTFE basket, replace it when the coating is scratched, peeling, or chipped, and skip metal tools. That is Poison Control's cookware advice, repeated in Cosori's manual.
4. Follow the preheat instruction in the manual. A 450°F air fryer is not the empty skillet Poison Control describes climbing past about 500°F.
5. If the manual allows parchment, keep food on the paper so it cannot blow into the heating element. The paper's own PFAS story is in the [parchment guide](/post/is-parchment-paper-pfas-free-safer-food-storage-and-baking-swaps).

## Frequently asked questions

### Do air fryers have Teflon?

Some do. Teflon is a brand name for PTFE. Philips says its air fryer baskets, pans, and several accessories are mostly coated with nonstick PTFE. SharkNinja's disclosure lists PTFE as the nonstick coating on named air fryer series manufactured before August 15, 2024. Later SharkNinja rows for those products do not name PTFE, and the company's 2025 report says air fryer food-contact coatings changed in 2024.

### Is a PFOA-free air fryer free of PFAS?

A PFOA-free claim addresses PFOA. EPA's stewardship program called for eliminating PFOA from emissions and product content by 2015, and EPA says the participating companies met that goal. PTFE is still a PFAS. Philips says its coatings are PFOA-free and that many of the baskets are PTFE. Look for the words PFAS or PTFE on the basket you are buying.

### Is the nonstick coating safe at normal air fryer temperatures?

The FDA says studies show negligible PFAS migration from polymerized nonstick coatings on pots and pans. Poison Control and a StatPearls review put the fume problem at about 500°F and above, with symptoms in people generally described at about 662°F. The Cosori, Philips, and Ninja manuals checked here top out at 450°F or 200°C. Those are different statements: migration from an intact coating, versus fumes if PTFE is overheated.

### Should I preheat an empty air fryer?

Use the manual. Poison Control says not to preheat an empty nonstick pan because a dry pan can get extremely hot, and it puts PTFE breakdown above about 500°F. Cosori's TurboBlaze manual, for a fryer rated to 450°F, says to preheat before adding food. The empty-pan warning and that preheat step are about different appliances.

### Do ceramic-coated air fryer baskets contain PFAS?

The word ceramic does not answer that. Philips uses it for some meshes while describing the baskets as mostly PTFE. Cosori's Iconic page says the basket and crisper plate are PFAS-free and ceramic-coated. Cosori's TurboBlaze page says the same phrase, and the manual for that model only says aluminum with a nonstick coating. Ask which part is coated and whether the page says PFAS-free or PTFE-free.

### Does a stainless steel air fryer avoid PTFE?

Only if the food-contact surface is uncoated steel. Cosori's Iconic is sold as stainless steel, and the page says the basket is a ceramic nonstick coating the company calls free of PFAS. A stainless exterior can be paired with a coated basket. This guide did not confirm an Amazon ASIN for an uncoated stainless basket.

### Does Minnesota ban PFAS in air fryers?

The MPCA's July 25, 2024 webinar says an air fryer is cookware if it includes a pan, baking sheet, tray, or grill component with a nonstick coating that contains intentionally added PFAS. The sale prohibition in section 116.943 began January 1, 2025. It does not cover a product whose intentionally added PFAS are only in electronic or internal components. A food-contact basket coating is the external case the agency says it still means to cover.

### Can parchment or a silicone liner go in an air fryer?

Cosori's TurboBlaze manual says never put parchment in without food on top, because the paper can lift into the heating coils, and it says to be extremely cautious with containers that are not metal or glass. That is one manufacturer's fire warning. It is not a PFAS test of the paper. The If You Care listing does not say the parchment is PFAS-free.

## Bottom line

An air fryer contains PFAS when the basket coating is PTFE. Philips says that is the usual coating on its baskets and that those coatings are PFOA-free. SharkNinja's own disclosure says the same for named series built before August 15, 2024, and the company says later food-contact coatings on heated products are PFAS-free. The FDA's finding of negligible migration applies to polymerized nonstick on pots and pans. The fume illness Poison Control and NIH describe is from overheating PTFE, at temperatures above the maxima in the manuals checked here. If you want to avoid the coating, start with a glass container whose maker says the food-contact surfaces are free of PFAS and PTFE, or a basket whose listing says uncoated stainless or PFAS-free ceramic, and check that sentence against the manual. Pans without PTFE are in the [cookware guide](/post/best-pfas-free-cookware-nonstick-pan-alternatives-compared), and the paper question is in the [parchment guide](/post/is-parchment-paper-pfas-free-safer-food-storage-and-baking-swaps). The directory of the products named above is the [non-toxic products directory](/non-toxic-products).

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## Sources

- Philips, [What materials and coatings are used in my Philips Airfryer?](https://www.usa.philips.com/c-f/XC000021623/what-materials-and-coatings-are-used-in-my-philips-airfryer)
- Philips, [There is a plastic smell coming from my Philips Airfryer](https://www.usa.philips.com/c-f/XC000021354/there-is-a-plastic-smell-coming-from-my-philips-airfryer) (models listed include NA555/00, NA330/00, and NA331/00; temperatures up to 200°C)
- SharkNinja, California chemical disclosure list, [PFAS data list](https://res.cloudinary.com/sharkninja-na/image/upload/v1762888614/PFAS_Data_list_102025.pdf) (document header: last updated October 6, 2026)
- SharkNinja, [2025 Environmental, Social, and Governance Report](https://assets.sharkninja.com/image/upload/v1778087661/storefront/Footer/SharkNinja_2025_ESG_Report_Final.pdf) (PFAS-free food-contact coatings on heated products, including air fryer pots)
- SharkNinja, [Ninja Crispi 4-in-1 portable glass air fryer](https://www.sharkninja.com/ninja-crispi-4-in-1-portable-glass-air-fryer-cooking-system/FN101GY.html) and [Crispi Pro materials answers](https://www.sharkninja.com/ninja-crispi-pro-6-in-1-countertop-glass-air-fryer-bone/AS101LGSN.html)
- Cosori, [Iconic stainless steel air fryer, model CAF-SE601S-CUS](https://cosori.com/products/iconic-air-fryer) and [Iconic marketing page](https://cosori.com/pages/iconic)
- Cosori, [TurboBlaze product page, model CAF-DC601-KUS](https://cosori.com/products/turboblaze-air-fryer) and [TurboBlaze user manual (US)](https://cosori.com/cdn/shop/files/TurboBlaze_Manual_US.pdf)
- U.S. FDA, [Authorized Uses of PFAS in Food Contact Applications](https://www.fda.gov/food/process-contaminants-food/authorized-uses-pfas-food-contact-applications)
- U.S. EPA, [Fact Sheet: 2010/2015 PFOA Stewardship Program](https://www.epa.gov/assessing-and-managing-chemicals-under-tsca/fact-sheet-20102015-pfoa-stewardship-program)
- U.S. EPA, [Risk Management for PFAS under TSCA](https://www.epa.gov/assessing-and-managing-chemicals-under-tsca/risk-management-and-polyfluoroalkyl-substances-pfas) (PFOA Stewardship Program results)
- Poison Control, National Capital Poison Center, [Protect yourself from Teflon flu](https://www.poison.org/articles/teflon-flu)
- Correia MS, Horowitz BZ. Polymer fume fever. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; updated August 4, 2023. [NCBI Bookshelf NBK594276](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK594276/)
- Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, [2025 PFAS prohibitions](https://www.pca.state.mn.us/air-water-land-climate/2025-pfas-prohibitions)
- Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, [2025 PFAS prohibitions webinar](https://www.pca.state.mn.us/sites/default/files/20240725-presentation-pfas-prohibitions.pdf) (July 25, 2024)
- Minnesota Statutes [section 116.943](https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/116.943)
- California Attorney General, [AB 1200 enforcement advisory](https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press-docs/AB1200%20Enforcement%20Advisory%20%281%29.pdf) (October 17, 2023), covering Health and Safety Code sections 109000–109014
- California Health and Safety Code [section 109010](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=HSC&sectionNum=109010.), [section 109011](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=HSC&sectionNum=109011.), [section 109012](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=HSC&sectionNum=109012.), and [section 109013](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=HSC&sectionNum=109013.)
- Colorado General Assembly, [SB24-081](https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb24-081); [signed act (PDF)](https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2024a_081_signed.pdf); cookware definition in [C.R.S. § 25-15-603](https://colorado.public.law/statutes/crs_25-15-603)

*For educational purposes only, not medical advice. Product descriptions reflect the manufacturer's page, the manual, or the Amazon listing cited above, at the time of writing.*

*Product links in this post may be affiliate links. Compensation may be received for qualifying purchases.*

## Questions from this guide

### Do air fryers contain PFAS?

Some do, when the surface that touches food is a PTFE nonstick coating. PTFE is a fluoropolymer. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's page on the 2025 prohibitions says Teflon is the trademarked brand name for polytetrafluoroethylene, one member of the PFAS family, and that Teflon will be prohibited from use in cookware. Minnesota's statute defines PFAS as a class of fluorinated organic chemicals containing at least one fully fluorinated carbon atom. That is a materials fact about the coating.

### Is the nonstick basket coating the same thing as Teflon?

When the maker names PTFE, yes. Teflon is a brand name for PTFE. Philips uses the words "non-stick PTFE" for the baskets on the support page above. SharkNinja's pre-August 15, 2024 air-fryer rows use PTFE and the phrase "non-stick coating." A listing that says only "nonstick" has not named the chemical. Cosori's user manual for the TurboBlaze model CAF-DC601-KUS says the basket and crisper plate are aluminum metal with a nonstick coating. The manual does not say PTFE, ceramic, or PFAS-free.

### What does "PFOA-free" on an air fryer really mean?

It means the claim is about PFOA, perfluorooctanoic acid. PFOA was a processing aid used to make PTFE. In 2006 the U.S. EPA asked eight major companies to join the 2010/2015 PFOA Stewardship Program. The goals were a 95 percent reduction in facility emissions and product content of PFOA, related precursors, and higher homologues by 2010, measured from a year-2000 baseline, and work toward eliminating those chemicals from emissions and product content by 2015.

### Can high heat and a PTFE basket cause polymer fume fever?

The illness is real, and the temperature that matters is high. Polymer fume fever, also called Teflon flu, is a flu-like illness from breathing fumes given off when fluoropolymers such as PTFE get hot enough to break down. A StatPearls review on the NIH bookshelf, last updated August 4, 2023, says overheating PTFE-coated nonstick cookware is the most common avenue of exposure.

### Which state rules cover PFAS coatings on air fryers?

The rules below are sale or disclosure rules. They are not a recall of an appliance you already own, and a statute in one state does not govern a store in another. Minnesota. Minnesota Statutes section 116.943, subdivision 5, says that beginning January 1, 2025, a person may not sell, offer for sale, or distribute for sale in the state listed products if they contain intentionally added PFAS. Cookware is item 3.

### Which air fryer styles avoid a PTFE coating?

Three styles come up in product claims: a bare stainless basket, a glass container, and a ceramic-coated basket. Each one is a claim about a surface. A stainless housing, a glass window, or the word ceramic on one accessory does not describe the whole appliance. Uncoated stainless steel. A basket with no coating has no PTFE layer to scratch off. The listing has to say that about the basket, or about the food-contact cavity, in those words. "Stainless steel air fryer" is often the outside of the machine.

### How do parchment liners and scratched baskets fit in?

Use the manual you have, and keep the paper warning separate from the PFAS question. Cosori's TurboBlaze manual says never put baking or parchment paper into the air fryer without food on top. Air circulation can lift the paper into the heating coils. The same manual says not to put paper, cardboard, non-heat-resistant plastic, or similar materials into the fryer, and to be extremely cautious with containers that are not metal or glass. That is a fire and contact warning from the maker of one 450°F machine.

### Do air fryers have Teflon?

Some do. Teflon is a brand name for PTFE. Philips says its air fryer baskets, pans, and several accessories are mostly coated with nonstick PTFE. SharkNinja's disclosure lists PTFE as the nonstick coating on named air fryer series manufactured before August 15, 2024. Later SharkNinja rows for those products do not name PTFE, and the company's 2025 report says air fryer food-contact coatings changed in 2024.

### Is a PFOA-free air fryer free of PFAS?

A PFOA-free claim addresses PFOA. EPA's stewardship program called for eliminating PFOA from emissions and product content by 2015, and EPA says the participating companies met that goal. PTFE is still a PFAS. Philips says its coatings are PFOA-free and that many of the baskets are PTFE. Look for the words PFAS or PTFE on the basket you are buying.

### Is the nonstick coating safe at normal air fryer temperatures?

The FDA says studies show negligible PFAS migration from polymerized nonstick coatings on pots and pans. Poison Control and a StatPearls review put the fume problem at about 500°F and above, with symptoms in people generally described at about 662°F. The Cosori, Philips, and Ninja manuals checked here top out at 450°F or 200°C. Those are different statements: migration from an intact coating, versus fumes if PTFE is overheated.

### Should I preheat an empty air fryer?

Use the manual. Poison Control says not to preheat an empty nonstick pan because a dry pan can get extremely hot, and it puts PTFE breakdown above about 500°F. Cosori's TurboBlaze manual, for a fryer rated to 450°F, says to preheat before adding food. The empty-pan warning and that preheat step are about different appliances.

### Do ceramic-coated air fryer baskets contain PFAS?

The word ceramic does not answer that. Philips uses it for some meshes while describing the baskets as mostly PTFE. Cosori's Iconic page says the basket and crisper plate are PFAS-free and ceramic-coated. Cosori's TurboBlaze page says the same phrase, and the manual for that model only says aluminum with a nonstick coating. Ask which part is coated and whether the page says PFAS-free or PTFE-free.

### Does a stainless steel air fryer avoid PTFE?

Only if the food-contact surface is uncoated steel. Cosori's Iconic is sold as stainless steel, and the page says the basket is a ceramic nonstick coating the company calls free of PFAS. A stainless exterior can be paired with a coated basket. This guide did not confirm an Amazon ASIN for an uncoated stainless basket.

### Does Minnesota ban PFAS in air fryers?

The MPCA's July 25, 2024 webinar says an air fryer is cookware if it includes a pan, baking sheet, tray, or grill component with a nonstick coating that contains intentionally added PFAS. The sale prohibition in section 116.943 began January 1, 2025. It does not cover a product whose intentionally added PFAS are only in electronic or internal components. A food-contact basket coating is the external case the agency says it still means to cover.

### Can parchment or a silicone liner go in an air fryer?

Cosori's TurboBlaze manual says never put parchment in without food on top, because the paper can lift into the heating coils, and it says to be extremely cautious with containers that are not metal or glass. That is one manufacturer's fire warning. It is not a PFAS test of the paper. The If You Care listing does not say the parchment is PFAS-free.

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