Friends Total Loss of Aviary Birds

[ranchnanny]

I have a friend that I bought some birds from and I had called her to see if she had any Zebs she wanted to sell. She called me this afternoon and told me a horrible story of what happened on Jan. 18th. She got up as usual and went in to check on her birds and to her horror all 45 of her mixed aviary birds were dead.

She was in tears and could not understand what had happened. Her hubby called the gas company and they were out within the hour and found nothing wrong. They called their vet who gave them the number for Oregon State University. They called and were told to ship overnight 6 of the birds so they could test them to determine the cause of death.

It took almost 2 weeks for the results which came back as TEFLON poisining.
How could that have happened she thought. Then she remembered she had bought a TEFLON liner for her oven 4 years ago. Wait a minute she thought I have used that oven over and over so many times with no problem. She checked the oven cause she had used it the night before to cook a pizza on the new pizza stone she bought. She had to put the pizza stone in a cold over and turn the oven up to 500 degrees. She realized that she had never had the oven that high before but for that pizza stone the high heat was necessary. It was to high a temp for the TEFLON LINER. It burnt a hole in the liner and the fumes killed the birds.

TEFLON IS BAD FOR BIRDS.......

Please be careful! I don't think I could ever recover from a loss that great.

[CandoAviary]

It is amazing bird are still being killed by teflon. But I guess it's like antifreeze and dogs.. it is common knowledge that these things are killers but all it takes is one forgetful time. How awful, I am so sorry for your friend..and very sorry for the birds. How sad

[cindy]

so sad....So sorry for her loss. She must be devastated.

I got rid of all telfon back years ago, I read and heard to many horror stories. The fumes and gas it gives off literally singes the lung linings of the birds. You have to wonder what it does to us.

If you are having new carpeting put down a request to mae of the installers is no teflon coated heat irons, and ask for water base Low VOC glue. Same with glues used on flooring. Buying new furniture...skip the Scotch Guard coating especially is they apply it right before they bring it in the house.

When in doubt contact your avian vet.

[Bluebonnet]

Oh, wow, such a sad thing to have happened.

[Ursula]

How awful! I'm so sorry for your friend!!

Just out of curiosity and to learn more about the dangers of teflon: Were her birds near or in the kitchen or in a completely separate part of the house? And did she smell anything when the oven was hot?

[lovemyfinch]

So sad to read this, she must be absolutely devastated

[cindy]

Ursula...the fumes can go throughout the house...carried by air conditioning and heating systems. It takes very little...there was a lady that lost her parrots that were kept upstairs due to teflon use in the kitchen downstairs.

People say that they have been using it for a while and nothing happens...it just takes that one time.

[G8love4finches]

I believe that as the teflon pans get old, there is a greater risk for fumes?....So sorry for your friends loss....How devastating!....I think that people forget or get complacent about their Teflon use and have a false sense of security.....I am going to check all things in my house for Teflon and eliminat it all!

[DanteD716]

oh my, how sad. It's hard losing one or two, I can't imagine 45. So sorry that happened.

[ranchnanny]

My friend Cathy did not mention to me that she could smell anything. I am assuming that the higher heat in the oven caused the Teflon to overheat and burn. Her birdroom was an entry into her home that was used as a den and it was on the opposite wall of the kitchen.

I cleaned my oven this past week (self cleaning) and I thought about the high heat. The first two times I cleaned it (being new) it did produce an odor but not this time. I was on pins and needles for 4 hours. Windows open and fans moving. No Problems

[cindy]

I just st up a topic thread on Teflon....
http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php ... 93#p193793

http://www.theherbprof.com/InfoTeflonPoisoning.htm

"ABC’s 20/20
A year and a half ago an airing of ABC’s 20/20 with representatives from an organization called the Environmental Working Group demonstrated how a Teflon-coated pan can easily reach a temperature of 500 degrees while cooking bacon. And at around 680 degrees the pan will begin to emit toxic gases. When inhaled, the gases may cause a reaction with symptoms that are typical of the flu, including a rise in body temperature, chills, headache, etc.

DuPont has said that the temperatures needed to release the fumes cannot be reached during normal cooking. As the Environmental Working Group showed 20/20 in the kitchen demonstration, however, a pan can reach that temperature in just a few minutes.

“At 554 degrees Fahrenheit,” said Houlihan, “studies show ultrafine particles start coming off the pan. These are tiny little particles that can embed deeply into the lungs.”

The hotter the pan gets, the more chemicals are released. “At 680, toxic gases can begin to come off of heated Teflon,” Houlihan said. It also turns out that, DuPont has known about the “Teflon flu” for years."

It is odorless.

An article by
Darrel K. Styles, DVM
Schubot Exotic Bird Health Center
Texas A&M University

Effects on birds big and small

TeflonTM poisoning: The silent killer
http://www.oldworldaviaries.com/text/styles/teflon.html

[Vertdemer]

Horrible and sad story... Thanks to share...We will be aware...

[Ursula]

My friend Cathy did not mention to me that she could smell anything. I am assuming that the higher heat in the oven caused the Teflon to overheat and burn. Her birdroom was an entry into her home that was used as a den and it was on the opposite wall of the kitchen.

I cleaned my oven this past week (self cleaning) and I thought about the high heat. The first two times I cleaned it (being new) it did produce an odor but not this time. I was on pins and needles for 4 hours. Windows open and fans moving. No Problems

Thanks! I was just curious. I'm glad your birds are ok. I am also always running the air filter over the stove and open the window and close the kitchen doors when I'm cooking...

[6finchfriends]

I'm so sorry for your friend Sherry! So very sad. I can't comprehend how devastating that would be! Just having one sick is frightening. I worry about fumes all the time. We don't use candles, air freshener, none of that. Poor little guys. I hope it wasn't her livelihood.

[6finchfriends]

I'm so sorry for your friend Sherry! So very sad. I can't comprehend how devastating that would be! Just having one sick is frightening. I worry about fumes all the time. We don't use candles, air freshener, none of that. Poor little guys. I hope it wasn't her livelihood.