The mechanism is unclear, but the effect is not. And has been known for decades.
An association with autistic-like traits was proposed,
but may not be as much as initially thought
Other effects, though, are fairly clear. So, yeah, it’s complicated. But this is not a benign substance.
Of course, biology is more than complex enough that “mechanism not well understood” should never be taken as meaning “effect not well established”. For toxins the problem is as likely as not that it doesn’t explain all the different ways something screws you up.
Actually, your next sentence explains it.
And that means a steady stream of income to pan manufacturers. Y’see, it’s not a question of what people need, but what people can be convinced that one cheap pan after another is better than an expensive pan that needs more care.
Ah! The enshitification of cooking! But this does make some sense. Cast iron is cheap and literally lasts for generations with only a little care. Teflon, no matter how careful you are, will last a few years at best. I do not understand the attraction, but this is just another on a long list of things I do not understand.
The attraction, of course, is that it’s nonstick. And that’s an attraction to people who don’t know how (or can’t be bothered) to maintain cast iron so that it’s nonstick.
I don’t agree. We managed for millennia without nonstick cookware. French haute cuisine wasn’t developed with cast iron. Auguste Escoffier used tinned copper for basically anything. The issue is not having a nonstick choice between teflon and cast iron. It’s about not being competent enough to cook without a nonstick surface in the first place.
Cast iron is a niche product for cooking on the fire and in the oven. On a modern hob, wrought iron/carbon steel does the same job more cheaply and at a lighter weight, while stainless steel is best for most applications.
ETA: sorry for sounding harsher than I had intended. I am just very frustrated with the very American cast iron discourse
And for millenia subsistence farming was a thing.
I would make the subtle difference that it’s about being told you’re not competent enough. The real success of Teflon (and Gore Tex, for that matter) is relentless marketing over decades.
Okay, thanks for the apology. FTR, I was explaining to @anon29537550 what I see as “the attraction” of Teflon to USians. I think that actually, you and I pretty much agree on everything here. 
That’s a very good point. Together with your other point
it explains pretty much why they are so ubiquitous.
Yeah, really sorry about the tone. I spend far too much time thinking about cookware as part of my job as well, so I am maybe a bit too passionate about this.
I think that actually, you and I pretty much agree on everything here.
I think we probably do
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