Sunday, March 26, 2006
I heard a canary cry...
Teflon kills birds
Avian veterinarians have known for decades that Teflon-coated and other non-stick cookware can produce fumes that are highly toxic to birds. As early as 1986, a Chicago-area expert on “Teflon toxicosis” called the phenomenon a “leading cause of death among birds,” and estimated that hundreds of birds are killed by the fumes and particles emitted from Teflon-coated products each year. Although an accurate national accounting of deaths is not available, in a single year this Chicago veterinarian documented 296 bird deaths in 105 cases involving non-stick cookware.
Under ordinary cooking scenarios, Teflon kills birds. A review of the literature and bird owners’ accounts of personal experience with Teflon toxicosis shows that Teflon can be lethal at normal cooking temperatures, with no human lapses in judgment or wakefulness.
Bird deaths have been documented during or immediately after the following normal cooking scenarios:
New Teflon-lined Amana oven was used to bake biscuits at 325°F; all the owner’s baby parrots died.
Four stovetop burners, underlined with Teflon-coated drip pans, were preheated in preparation for Thanksgiving dinner; 14 birds died within 15 minutes.
Nonstick cookie sheet was placed under oven broiler to catch the drippings; 107 chicks died.
Self-cleaning feature on the oven was used; a $2,000 bird died.
Set of Teflon pans, including egg poaching pan, were attributed to seven bird deaths over seven years.
Water burned off a hot pan; more than 55 birds died.
Electric skillet at 300°F and space heater were used simultaneously; pet bird died.
Toaster oven with a non-stick coating was used to prepare food at a normal temperature; bird survived but suffered respiratory distress.
Water being heated for hot cocoa boiled off completely; pet bird died.
Grill plate on gas stove used to prepare food at normal temperatures; two birds died on two separate occasions.
DuPont claims that its coating remains intact indefinitely at 500°F. Experiences of consumers whose birds have died from fumes generated at lower temperatures show that this is not the case. In one case researchers at the University of Missouri documented the death of about 1,000 broiler chicks exposed to offgas products from coated heat lamps at 396°F.
DuPont also claims that human illness will be produced only in cases involving gross overheating, or burning the food to an inedible state. Yet DuPont's own scientists have concluded that polymer fume fever in humans is possible at 662°F, a temperature easily exceeded when a pan is preheated on a burner or placed beneath a broiler, or in a self-cleaning oven.
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