News Coverage
Teflon dangers
Published May 20, 2003
An environmental group has asked the Consumer Product Safety Commission to require warnings on nonstick cookware informing consumers of the hazards they can pose to pet birds and potentially humans when overheated.
Veterinarians have long known that overheating nonstick cookware produces toxins that can kill birds. The syndrome is so well documented that it is included in the standard veterinary text on the subject, "Avian Medicine: Principles and Applications."
Environmental Working Group wants that knowledge to be more widespread, especially because in people, breathing such fumes results in what's known as "polymer fume fever," a short illness that mimics the flu with fever, chills, shivering, cough and sore throat.