News Coverage
Concern about Teflon and Birds Heats Up
Published May 15, 2003
Veterinarians and bird breeders have warned their customers for years that cooking with Teflon could harm their feathered friends.
Now a new report linking fumes from Teflon-coated cookware to bird injuries and deaths indicates that the problem could be worse than thought.
"We used to see a lot of toxicity five to 10 years back," said Dr. Ram Mohan, a Reynoldsburg veterinarian. "Essentially, it's not only toxic to birds but can cause some problems for people."
A report released yesterday by the Environmental Working Group said that birds can die from fumes produced by normal cooking with Teflon -- even preheating an oven to about 325 degrees with a Teflon pan inside it.
DuPont disagreed, saying that only higher temperatures cause problems. "We've seen no peer-reviewed science that shows temperatures less than 500 degrees," said company spokesman Clif Webb.
The fumes affect birds more than other animals because they have extremely sensitive respiratory systems.
Jennifer Klein, a chemist with the Washington-based environmental group, said tests subjecting Teflon to varying amounts of heat found that the coating began to degrade at temperatures far less than 500 degrees.
"Our simple test showed DuPont is wrong when they tell customers the pans won't degrade except under extreme misuse," Klein said.
The organization's test also showed that cooks can easily heat pans to well above 500 degrees. In the test, an empty, heated Teflon pan reached 721 degrees in five minutes.
According to the environmental group, DuPont studies show that Teflon emits minute toxic particles at 446 degrees and six toxic gases at 668 degrees.
Temperatures of 1,000 degrees can be reached in burner drip pans. At that temperature, according to the group, citing DuPont studies, chemicals similar to those found in nerve gas can be released. Jane Houlihan, vice president for research at the Environmental Working Group, said there's no direct connection between bird illness and humans, but she said the study raises concerns.
"If (it) can kill hundreds or thousands of birds a year, what's it doing to humans?" she asked.
DuPont maintains that Teflon is safe for humans but has acknowledged since the late 1980s that fumes from overheating Teflon-coated pans can be harmful to birds.
"It's not safe to have that kind of pet in or near the kitchen," Webb said.
The report is the latest attack on labor-saving Teflon, which has been a staple coating for pans and other stick-and-stain-resistant products for decades.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also is looking at the safety of C8, the chemical used to make Teflon.
On May 1, a West Virginia judge found that C8 is toxic when he ruled in a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of people living near DuPont's plant outside of Parkersburg, W.Va., where C8 is used.
There are no known cases of C8 causing illnesses, and DuPont has consistently said that C8 has never harmed anyone.
Mohan said he sees three or four cases of ill birds related to Teflon a year, down from perhaps a dozen annually a decade ago. He's not sure why numbers are down, though he said bird owners simply might be more aware of the problem.
Sunbury parrot breeder Steve Hartman warns all his customers about the danger.
"It rarely occurs. It's one of those things that gets a lot more hype than it should," he said.
Illinois bird veterinarian Dr. Peter Sakas said he has collected hundreds of incidents of problems, although he still uses Teflon-coated products.
Bird owners, he said, should especially watch when using Teflon-coated drip pans below burners. These can easily heat to more than 700 degrees, said Sakas, who wrote a pamphlet that DuPont printed concerning household threats to birds.