With holiday baking coming up and gift season to boot, I`ve been thinking again about the safety of silicone bakeware. Silicone pans, baking mats, and cooking utensils are not only a huge trend in the common culture but also touted as a way to [bake green" since you can avoid throwing away aluminum foil or parchment paper if you use and reuse silicone baking mats. They make great gifts since they`re generally both cute and affordable. But is silicone really a safe choice for your health?

I`ve been using the baking mats for years under the pretense that silicone is safe, especially compared to the hazards of aluminum and the many safety issues surrounding Teflon.

It seems that a few times a year, I`m asked to explain my rationale for choosing silicone bakeware, and since I can never remember the answer, it`s time to officially revisit that issue: Is silicone bakeware safe? Can it leach into the food or offgas into the air?

The Composition of Silicone

Silicone is a synthetic (man-made) material created by bonding silicon with oxygen. I think I often type [silicon baking mats" but that`s wrong –silicone is the material in the bakeware. Silicon is right on the periodic table, a natural element that is in sand and makes up 28% of the earth`s crust. However, I don`t eat on the earth`s crust. [Is a natural substance" can`t be the end of one`s material safety research.