Over-heating Teflon pans
The dangers (if there are any) of cooking with Teflon coated pans is a controversial topic.
The FDA and the EPA and other agencies usually say----- no danger.
But one thing they're pretty much agree upon is the danger that is present if a Teflon pan is overheated.
A term for that is 'polymer fume fever or illness' and a PubMed abstract is printed below.
Birds in particular react, often fatally, when exposed to the fumes. I know a woman who raised exotic birds which included several very expensive Blue Hyacinth Macaws. A workman in left an untended Teflon pan on and the fumes killed all her birds.
So to be as safe as you can and still use Teflon---- never use it at high heats or leave the pan untended where the fumes can made a human sick.
Occup Med. 1993 Jul-Sep;8(3):519-31.
Polymer fume fever and other fluorocarbon pyrolysis-related syndromes.
Shusterman DJ.
Source
Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, University of California, San Francisco.
Abstract
Polymer fume fever usually occurs as a self-limited systemic illness with only minor pulmonary symptoms. Like metal fume fever, constitutional signs and symptoms typically present several hours after initial exposure, often giving rise to a misdiagnosis of viral "flu." Compared to metal fume fever, polymer fume fever has a more varied clinical presentation, the severity of which depends upon the specific conditions of exposure. When higher temperatures and/or longer durations of exposure are involved, significant pulmonary involvement, including radiographic consolidation, is a potential complication. Although a number of industrial outbreaks have implicated the smoking of contaminated cigarettes as a vehicle of exposure, any industrial or household activity in which PTFE is heated above 350-400 degrees C puts nearby workers or residents at risk of illness and is to be avoided without strict industrial hygiene controls.
PMID: 8272977 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
The FDA and the EPA and other agencies usually say----- no danger.
But one thing they're pretty much agree upon is the danger that is present if a Teflon pan is overheated.
A term for that is 'polymer fume fever or illness' and a PubMed abstract is printed below.
Birds in particular react, often fatally, when exposed to the fumes. I know a woman who raised exotic birds which included several very expensive Blue Hyacinth Macaws. A workman in left an untended Teflon pan on and the fumes killed all her birds.
So to be as safe as you can and still use Teflon---- never use it at high heats or leave the pan untended where the fumes can made a human sick.
Occup Med. 1993 Jul-Sep;8(3):519-31.
Polymer fume fever and other fluorocarbon pyrolysis-related syndromes.
Shusterman DJ.
Source
Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, University of California, San Francisco.
Abstract
Polymer fume fever usually occurs as a self-limited systemic illness with only minor pulmonary symptoms. Like metal fume fever, constitutional signs and symptoms typically present several hours after initial exposure, often giving rise to a misdiagnosis of viral "flu." Compared to metal fume fever, polymer fume fever has a more varied clinical presentation, the severity of which depends upon the specific conditions of exposure. When higher temperatures and/or longer durations of exposure are involved, significant pulmonary involvement, including radiographic consolidation, is a potential complication. Although a number of industrial outbreaks have implicated the smoking of contaminated cigarettes as a vehicle of exposure, any industrial or household activity in which PTFE is heated above 350-400 degrees C puts nearby workers or residents at risk of illness and is to be avoided without strict industrial hygiene controls.
PMID: 8272977 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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