No, this isn’t a cast iron thing. Using stainless pans, you can get nonstick effects that, in my experience, far outperform Teflon anyway. The process is called “spot seasoning.” I have cooked crispy, cheesy rice noodles with eggs with zero sticking.
I love my cast iron pans, but stainless is my daily go-to. Added bonus: use 100% copper wool to clean your stainless pan. The copper-coated wool at most grocery stores is problematic; you might get a few uses out of the coated garbage and then it starts shedding metal bits.
PFOA was banned 10 years ago in the US and 20 years ago in the UK.
Any evidence that PFTE is harmful to that level?
DuPont/Chemours and 3M just add or subtract from the chain of the molecule and call it something new. It’s the same poisonous shit.
PFOA was banned, but PFOS and other very-slightly-different forever chemicals are not banned, therefore get around those regulations due to that technicality. Also, the current US administration is looking into removing a lot of those regulations.