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.