Teflon coated Cookware

[lovemyGreys]

Teflon.

Teflon fumes are deadly to birds!


Teflon is DuPont's trademarked name for Tetrafluoroethylene which is found most commonly in non-stick cookware. Polytetraflouethylene (PTFE) is not only found in the fumes of Teflon products, but other brands of product as well.

Teflon is a material used to coat cooking utensils and in industrial applications where sticking is to be avoided. Teflon is now also being used in many household appliances.

PTFE is commonly found in.
• Non-stick Cookware. (This includes non-stick coatings known as Teflon, Silverstone, T-Fal, Supra, Resistal, etc.)

• Irons with Non-stick Sole Plates
• Portable Heaters
• Stir Fryers/Woks
• Pizza Pans
• Non-stick Stainless Steel
• Self-Cleaning Ovens
• Heat Lamps and Bulbs
• Bread makers
• Curling Irons
• Hair Dryers
• Cookie Sheets
• Griddle Pans and Skillets
• Stovetop Burners
• Wafflers
• Deep Fryers
• Crock Pots
• Roasting Pans
• Cake Pans and Moulds
• Coffee Makers


Teflon fumes arise when cooking with Teflon-coated pots and pans at high temperatures or when pre-heating an empty pan for more than 3 minutes. While not harmful to other pets, these fumes are lethal to birds. Under normal cooking conditions, PTFE-coated cookware is stable and safe.


Like carbon monoxide, PTFE is odourless and invisible. It travels through the air unnoticed. In humans PTFE causes flu-like symptoms; in birds PTFE kills.We all cook at normal temperatures but please be aware a day may come when you may accidentally leave a pan on a hot stove, You may be distracted , if a pan is being pre heated on an oven/cooker and forgotten, or if water boils out of a pot, breakdown of the PTFE can occur. In other words, PTFE cookware has to be "abused" to emit toxic fumes, but this is not as rare as it might seem; many people fall asleep after they put pots or pans on the stove to heat.

Birds which are kept near to the kitchen will usually die very shortly after breathing the fumes. Even birds kept in another room are at great risk. They will have severe breathing difficulties & death will usually follow.

First Aid for Teflon poisoning.
1. Remove the affected bird immediately from the home and supply lots of fresh air. Unfortunately, other than this, no first aid exists.
2. Call your avian veterinarian immediately.


I have posted this article in the bird food room as Teflon is found in cookware & thought it was appropriate.

[Tari]

What a great post. Thank you and I would like to add it has been proven that it does not have to over heat for fumes to be released into your house.
So THROW IT OUT now. Not after your bird dies.

[lovemyGreys]

Thank you for the additional information Tari

[Tari]

Ok Im going to tell you a couple true stories.
I had a green quaker named Draco and a blue Crown conure named Robin and 9 budgies some years ago before the birds I have now.
I thought I was safe with my t-fal my mother gave me for Christmas and I would never let my t-fal burn.
One day my husband called with the 'come fast I need you" call and I did, then I went on to work.
I come home nine hours later to a house full of dead birds.
I had left a boiler on the stove with water in it to make tea before I went to work and forgot about it.
I know what your thinking "that wont ever happen to me" That is the same thing I thought for five years and It didn't happen to me for five long years and then poof all my birds were gone.
I'll tell you one more story.
One of the bird club members was breeding budgies and cockatiel in her home. She had around 76 birds in the house.
One day she got a call that her mother was having a heart attack and she took off to the ER. Three hours later she arrives home to a house full of dead birds. Even the ones upstairs were dead.

You are right sprays may not kill right away the way over heating can but it well over time by shorting your birds life span.
Candles won't kill right away either.
Even second hand smoke won't kill your bird right away.
I live in my house without the use of any of these products and I am still comfortable and my birds are safe.
Ok off my soap box.
I post this in loving memory of the birds I killed. And if reading this saves just one bird it was worth the tears I shed while I post this.
Now you have the facts you can make an informed decision on weather the risk is worth it for you or not.
Thank you for reading this.<br><br>Post edited by: Tari, at: 2007/09/15 16:33

[lovemyGreys]

Joe you are entitled to your own opinion.

The article i have written is true, I have sat here for a few hours researching & getting my facts correct before i posted this topic as i do with all the informative articles i write & post.

I didnt suggest that you or any members will be killing your birds using Teflon coated pans as you have implied Joe, I was warning members of the potential dangers of misuse of products containing Teflon.

As i said ""Under normal cooking conditions, PTFE-coated cookware is stable and safe ""


If you want to use a vanilla scent in your bathroom that's down to you, personally i choose not to use any kind of sprays or air fresheners in my house that can potentially harm my greys.Thats my personal choice.<br><br>Post edited by: lovemyGreys, at: 2007/09/15 16:49

[Tari]

Oh I know hun you are one of the best people I know.
Just wish I had paid attention when people told me how bad that stuff was.

[lovemyGreys]

I would like to thank Tari for posting her own personal story.I know it was upsetting for her, but hopefully some good will come from this, even if it is to warn people of the potential dangers of Teflon.

This topic was written to warn of the potential dangers of the misuse of Teflon, & with Tari's own personal story it shows that, yes this can & does happen.<br><br>Post edited by: lovemyGreys, at: 2007/09/15 16:54

[Tari]

Its ok sometimes I sound harsh even to myself and I don't mean to be.

[CursingLlama]

Thank you both for your posts. This is one of the many reasons I wanted to start my research so far ahead of my actually getting a grey. My favorite pot at home is a teflon coated one and I use it constantly... and have before left it on the stove longer than I meant waiting for the water to boil. If I hadn't read this and someday did the same thing again I'm sure I would have been devistated. Sorry for your losses tari but thank you for sharing.

[lovemyGreys]

CursingLlama Thank you for your input.This is why i considered this a worthwhile topic, if it can give people a little knowledge of the potential danger/risks then that makes me a very happy moderator.
Karma to you