[USAmma]

It makes me wonder what it's doing to us?! I always thought teflon was safe, but when I got my birds I was warned about using it around them. It can give off gasses that can kill them. Well, in spite of being careful the fry daddy was accidentally left plugged in for 45 minutes after using it. During its use I had opened the windows and my parrot was outside, the little budgies were in another room. So after cooking I closed the house and prepared to go for a jog. I asked dh to check the fryer as I left the house, and he apparently forgot to and claims I never asked him.

In any case, I came back and was hit by a strong smell of hot oil heavy in the house. I opened the windows, put the birds outside, and turned fans on. Usually birds who get poisoned will drop dead within minutes or hours. I figured since they looked okay, they were.

Gradually my parrot started to look poorly. Dh noticed he kept falling off his shoulder and we examined his feet and found nothing. He started to breath in a wheeze but it was so faint and infrequent I thought I was imagining it. Then yesterday he was puffed up and sleeping a lot and sneezing. I though maybe a little cold. Today he stopped calling and now I can hear the wheeze and a clicking sound. So, off to the vet. The vet verified that he had been poisoned by teflon. The capillaries in his lungs have burst and there is fluid and mucous in the lungs, but he should be okay with rest. He's very lucky.

The vet said teflon is bad stuff for people, too. It doesn't cause immediate damage but has been linked to all kinds of bad things. If it can harm birds, I'm sure it's harming us more slowly. The teflon pans are going in the trash today. I'm keeping the fryer but will only use it on the back patio, not in the house.

I just wanted to pass on this health warning. Having grown up using teflon I'm now worried about long term side effects.

Also, you are supposed to throw out your pans if they are more than 5 years old or start to peel off.

 

[FrannieP]

EEEWWWWWW!!!!
I'm glad your bird is okay!

Dr. Mercola writes about teflon on his site:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/ar...-part-one.aspx
He also mentions the danger to birds.

He suggest ceramic cookware - but I've not seen a lot of ceramic frying pans around have you? I like my cast iron pans - they do stick though.

 

[Cheshire]

We got rid of our teflon years ago - including our iron. It took a while to find a clothes iron without a teflon surface but we finally found one at Target a few years ago that has a ceramic surface (it works great).

We use stainless steel and cast iron. If you heat the cast iron up hot enough (but not too hot to burn) it usually won't stick. My DH is an expert cast iron chef and I haven't seen anything stick yet (I'm not so lucky with timing it just right so I don't cook on our cast iron very often).

I also have tried to move to all glass drinking classes and ceramic plates and bowls. I'm working to get rid of all of our plastic stuff.

My greatest tip I read recently - we're washing up and storing glass containers and lids (from spaghetti sauce, hot sauce, etc.) to use to store left overs in instead of plastic containers. I remove the lid and can reheat them in the microwave without worrying about plastic yuckies leaching into our food and I can see what is in the containers in the fridge.

 

[USAmma]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FrannieP EEEWWWWWW!!!! I'm glad your bird is okay! Dr. Mercola writes about teflon on his site: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/ar...-part-one.aspx He also mentions the danger to birds. He suggest ceramic cookware - but I've not seen a lot of ceramic frying pans around have you? I like my cast iron pans - they do stick though.

I have a couple of old cast irons out in the garage that I got from my grandma. I'll have to recondition those and learn to use them.

 

[USAmma]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cheshire We got rid of our teflon years ago - including our iron. It took a while to find a clothes iron without a teflon surface but we finally found one at Target a few years ago that has a ceramic surface (it works great). We use stainless steel and cast iron. If you heat the cast iron up hot enough (but not too hot to burn) it usually won't stick. My DH is an expert cast iron chef and I haven't seen anything stick yet (I'm not so lucky with timing it just right so I don't cook on our cast iron very often). I also have tried to move to all glass drinking classes and ceramic plates and bowls. I'm working to get rid of all of our plastic stuff. My greatest tip I read recently - we're washing up and storing glass containers and lids (from spaghetti sauce, hot sauce, etc.) to use to store left overs in instead of plastic containers. I remove the lid and can reheat them in the microwave without worrying about plastic yuckies leaching into our food and I can see what is in the containers in the fridge.

Yep, we are moving away from plastic. I only have it for our clumsy 5yo because she seems to break a glass or ceramic item daily if she's given them. We use Mason jars for storage of most foods, except we don't use them to freeze things.

 

[remorseful]

Too late for me, last Sunday I decided to bake a pie, upon completion while the oven was still warm I decided to store back all my teflon coated pans and pots, 1/2 hour later my cockatail of 17 years was dead. I cannot find words to express my sadness, I cannot believe that after so many years this fact about teflon was unknown to me, I will regret for the rest of my life the stupidity and carelessness of my actions for causing this loely creature such a painful death.

 

[1stTimeMama4-4-10]

Quote:

Originally Posted by remorseful

Too late for me, last Sunday I decided to bake a pie, upon completion while the oven was still warm I decided to store back all my teflon coated pans and pots, 1/2 hour later my cockatail of 17 years was dead. I cannot find words to express my sadness, I cannot believe that after so many years this fact about teflon was unknown to me, I will regret for the rest of my life the stupidity and carelessness of my actions for causing this loely creature such a painful death.

I am sorry for the loss of your pet. I don't know much about lifespans of birds, but it is possible that with a 17 year old bird it was a coincidence. I guess you won't ever know for sure, but try not to beat yourself up.