Teflon Poisoning

[Ratchnick]

I have had parrots and teflon pans for the last 20 years. The pan has to get very hot to cause a problem. It is a disaster waiting to happen if your careless. Honestly i would not have ducklings in my kitchen to begin with. There is a thread on here where someone killed their ducklings with a teflon coated heat lamp (its a food service thing).

 

[tripletfeb]

I have also had teflon coated pans and lots of caged birds. My current bird, a cockatiel named George, is 17 and lives in his cage in my living room. The kitchen is in the next room, no issues at all with the teflon pans. If you feel better keeping the window open and ventilation on, go for it. But I truly think that is plenty and the ducks will be fine. I personally would be more worried about ducks in my kitchen, pooping everywhere and being gross ducks!

 

[ChippysMama]

I believe the solid black ones are, but I've seen some fancy styles that are colored and coated, and I'm not sure what that stuff is made of, so you'd have to check.

I'm not trying to be contradictory, but an owner shared their experience with me about their bird who passed away because of cooking with a Teflon pan. The owner was making french toast on medium heat. The parrot was in another room. The pan likely overheated on the edges where there was no food. Even on lower temperatures heat can build up.

It is perhaps unlikely, but any chance is too much for me. Which is why I would not risk it.

https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/teflon-polytetrafluoroethylene-poisoning-in-birds

"In the case of a non-stick surface becoming over-heated and therefore releasing its toxins, a common scenario involves a non-stick pan left on the stovetop. The person gets distracted, the pan over heats or burns, and toxic gases are released into the air. This can even happen at lower temperatures.
Why are birds in danger of “Teflon poisoning”?
Birds have unique, highly efficient respiratory systems and are therefore very sensitive to inhaled toxins or poisons, such as PTFE. Your bird doesn’t even need to be NEAR the offending appliance or item for poisoning to happen."

I appreciate the honesty and contradictions are sometimes good, helps get a feel for different points of view. I agree that even a slight risk is too much for me. I'll be tossing the nonstick pans and purchasing some non PTFE cast iron ones asap. Thanks so much for the article and insight!

 

[ChippysMama]

I have also had teflon coated pans and lots of caged birds. My current bird, a cockatiel named George, is 17 and lives in his cage in my living room. The kitchen is in the next room, no issues at all with the teflon pans. If you feel better keeping the window open and ventilation on, go for it. But I truly think that is plenty and the ducks will be fine. I personally would be more worried about ducks in my kitchen, pooping everywhere and being gross ducks!

I appreciate the insight! I don't keep the lil guys in my kitchen but my home is basically a train situation where there aren't many doors unless it's a bedroom. So they're in the front foyer area in a designated walk in type closet and my kitchen is a room over through the living room. I was mainly worried that the teflon would drift into the foyer area hence why I immediately turned on the ventilation and opened up windows in the kitchen for about an hour. Glad to hear George has made it to 17!
Thanks for your response!

 

[ChippysMama]

I have had parrots and teflon pans for the last 20 years. The pan has to get very hot to cause a problem. It is a disaster waiting to happen if your careless. Honestly i would not have ducklings in my kitchen to begin with. There is a thread on here where someone killed their ducklings with a teflon coated heat lamp (its a food service thing).

I don't keep the lil guys in my kitchen but my home is basically a train situation where there aren't many doors unless it's a bedroom. I was mainly worried that the teflon would drift into the area that they stay in so I immediately turned on the ventilation and opened up windows in the kitchen for about an hour.
I really appreciate your insight and response, thank you!

 

[AngBantamLuv]

I wouldn't worry so much about regular pans used correctly.. but there are oven liners, for spills, those are sometimes made of teflon and very dangerous, since oven temps are high for prolonged times. Also.. self cleaning mode on the oven is also super dangerous to birds.

 

[Mellowmalt]

I just read the article and I'd never heard of these teflon fumes but on the same list as teflon pans are ceramic space heaters.
I've never really been a fan of ceramic space heaters - my friend thinks they give him headaches but his theory is they dry the air too much, maybe htye are releasing ptfe fumes.

I personally would be more worried about using a space heater than my teflon pan after reading that article, considering manufacturers seem to think it is safe to use since it doesn't affect humans (till they discover is does)!

wasn't asbestos safe to use for like 30 years? Just looked it up, asbestos was used for hundreds of years :O

Another interesting fact is that although it was discovered that asbestos is harmful over 80 years ago the world still manufactures and uses 990,000 million metric tonnes of it every year. Wow we just love poisonings ourselves by the sounds of it.

 

[ChippysMama]

I just read the article and I'd never heard of these teflon fumes but on the same list as teflon pans are ceramic space heaters.
I've never really been a fan of ceramic space heaters - my friend thinks they give him headaches but his theory is they dry the air too much, maybe htye are releasing ptfe fumes.

I personally would be more worried about using a space heater than my teflon pan after reading that article, considering manufacturers seem to think it is safe to use since it doesn't affect humans (till they discover is does)!

wasn't asbestos safe to use for like 30 years? Just looked it up, asbestos was used for hundreds of years :O

It might be weird but the only thing I have on that list are the pans! I don't even have a working oven to worry about

 

[Stoney Meadow Maple]

Get yourself some Lodge cast iron pans, the price is reasonable, they are the gold standard of basic cast iron and are made right here in the USA (i said that but don’t know where you are from) they are a lifetime investment, literally impossible to destroy. I also have a lot of LeCruset enameled cast iron for dutch ovens and various saucepans. Those don’t run cheap, but i feel are worth the investment.
my MIL is a 2 time cancer survivor and requested we get rid of our couple non stick pans years ago, thinking perhaps my wife had a strong hereditary predisposition to cancers I happily did so. ...then she (my MIL) went out and had a cigarette... so go figure

 

[AngBantamLuv]

Get yourself some Lodge cast iron pans, the price is reasonable, they are the gold standard of basic cast iron and are made right here in the USA (i said that but don’t know where you are from) they are a lifetime investment, literally impossible to destroy. I also have a lot of LeCruset enameled cast iron for dutch ovens and various saucepans. Those don’t run cheap, but i feel are worth the investment.
my MIL is a 2 time cancer survivor and requested we get rid of our couple non stick pans years ago, thinking perhaps my wife had a strong hereditary predisposition to cancers I happily did so. ...then she (my MIL) went out and had a cigarette... so go figure

I get it... ive had coworkers try to give health and exercise advice.. who are chain smokers!

There are new ceramic coated aluminum pans too.. not everyone can lift the heavy skillets, nor can they go on glass top stoves. But they are very nice lightweight pans.. my next purchase.