This should be a warning to all pet owners regarding the dangers of Teflon-Coated oven liners and cookware!
Two of my birds died last night (December 13, 2010) due to the toxic fumes released from accidentally burning our Teflon-Coated oven liner. The oven liner is suppose to be able to withstand temperatures up to 550 ºF. Our electrical oven only goes up to 500 ºF. So what happened?
Apparently oven liners are not suppose to be placed on the bottom floor of the oven, but on the bottom rack. When placed on the bottom of the oven, the oven liner can reach temperatures up to 800 ºF! This is due to the heating element being directly underneath the oven floor.
So when my wife and I cooked dinner last night, the Teflon-Coated oven liner burned pretty badly. I was not aware that burning Teflon releases a toxic gas that is fatal to birds. Our birds are not even in the kitchen, but in a bedroom down a hall and through closed doors. Even being in a completely different room did not save our birds. The Teflon-Coated oven liner melted and has left a permanent mark in our oven. Quite interesting that a product intended to keep the bottom our oven from getting dirty actually ruined our oven by leaving a permanent mark on the oven floor.
I have had our lovebird "Nibbles" since 1999. We got him when he was only days old, and hand raised him ever since. I have never seen such a tame, loving bird who enjoyed whistling and dancing while I played the piano. We also got a parakeet named "Petey" a few years ago. Petey became great friends with Nibbles. I would put both birds together all the time and they would both kiss and whistle together without ever fighting. That is rare for lovebirds since they are territorial. I will miss my two birds very much, especially when I play my piano. I'll never get to have Nibbles sit on my shoulder chirping away while I play.
I believe companies selling Teflon-Coated products that are intended to be used in extremely hot conditions should be required to display a warning label in large print "OVER HEATING OR BURNING THIS PRODUCT
WILL RELEASE TOXIC FUMES FATAL TO HOUSE PETS SUCH AS BIRDS!"
Rest In Peace my little birdies.
How sad! Thanks for the warning. We've had our dove, Valarie for over 12 years and we would miss her if anything were to happen to her. I'm so sorry you lost your little birdies.
ReplyDeleteThis is very sad, indeed. Your birds were beautiful and a big part of your family. I know your lives won't be the same without them. It's heartbreaking. I'm very sorry, cousins.
ReplyDeleteWhen I got my cockatiel Fizzbin back in 1985 (and yes, he is still alive and kicking!) I stopped using Teflon so much. And when I did, I made sure that everything was well-ventilated and the pan was not left to heat without anything in it. Teflon fumes are toxic to every living thing.
I've never even heard of Teflon-coated oven liners. It seems strange to have something so toxic in the oven to get heated up over and over again. The manufacturer should be ashamed for selling a product like this that is just a ticking time bomb.
Thank you for the information. I will pass it on. I have never owned a bird or been close to one but the picture of the two of them side-by-side nearly brought tears. This is just terrible - I was thinking of ordering a Teflon oven liner, but not now!
ReplyDeleteAlso please never burn scented candles around your birds either. Even for yourself, buy those with wicks that are lead free. So sorry about your babies.
ReplyDeleteClear misusage of teflon products. I am genuinely sorry for your loss of these lovely birds, but teflon should never be overheated.
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting this, at least now I know what killed my Sun Conure on Saturday night and have a bit of closure.
ReplyDeleteI just moved to a new apartment and didn't notice the last occupants had left one of these oven liners in the bottom of the oven. The oven is way down the hall from my parrot, Mango so I didn't really think about it.
I've always been careful not to use teflon products or cleaning products that could harm him but just presumed this oven liner was just part of the oven and hadn't looked too closely at it.
Had no idea why he was becoming disorientated, dizzy and weak. It all happened so quickly, he died within 20mins of me turning the oven on, I didn't put two and two together.
I thought perhaps he had a concussion as he had been enjoying dive bombing the moving boxes and attacking the laundry during the move and lost a few feathers on his head. So his sudden death came as such a shock.
Again, thank you for your post, at least now I have an answer, and I am so sorry about your birdies, I know how painful it is to loose them like this. I am going to look into how I can make others more aware of the dangers of these oven liners to birds.
a lot of ovens WILL burn the teflon coating because the electric element at the bottom of the oven rests on the oven floor.
ReplyDeleteall teflon products are dangerous because no scientist or responsible person is monitoring the consumer using them to make sure that the teflon is used correctly. Some materials, like teflon, are not good for the consumer market because people are not normally so careful about using industrial chemicals or materials that are so hazardous under unspecified conditions. Unspecified conditions occur all the time in real life.
ban teflon.
I appreciate everyone's comments. I still miss my birdies, especially the love bird. I have not played my piano as much since his death, which was something he really enjoyed listening too. I know all products have limitations, but I think the company making teflon oven liners should have had warnings on their product, especially when their intended use is to be in ovens. If their intended use was not to be left in the oven when the oven runs through its cleaner mode, which is responsible for off gassing toxic fumes harmful to every living being (smaller pets more so), then their should have been a label.
ReplyDeleteIf these companies have not been sued yet for this problem, I'm surprised. Especially in a day and age when companies get sued left and right by money hungry attorneys looking to strike it big with large class action suits and hope for a settlement. Everyone knows the only winner there are the attorneys.
I had two contures and last night they both died from the oven liner overheating. I wish I would have seen these postings before. I am so upset something that is so toxic is allowed to be purchased with no warnings. I am going to spread the word to vets, bird organizations and everyone I know so perhaps some other birds can be spared the horrible death. I'll never get my birds back and they needlessly died.
ReplyDeleteI'm very sorry about your two birdies. These companies selling such highly toxic materials to be used in situations that exceed the temperature of the product's intended use without any warnings is absolutely infuriating. Not even a warning about the "fact" that when Teflon is superheated it off gasses an odorless but poisonous chemical agent that "will" kill animals such as birds.
DeleteReally sory about your little birdies.
ReplyDeleteI'm besides myself broken hearted that my bird also passed just two days ago from those horrible oven liners! He was only a baby of 8 months old. Chirpy was a conure...he had many years ahead of him to live, I am absolutely sick. He was in another room and I never suspected anything like this would ever happen. I miss my baby soooo much! 😭
ReplyDeleteAmazing how no one seems to be clearly pointing out the implication of these bird deaths. There is a reason canaries were put into coal mines. Something which kills birds also harms humans yet most here seem be side-stepping this logical mental step. Yes, it's sad the birds died but where is the outrage that teflon cooking products have been known for DECADES to do this to birds yet they are still sold to consumers at all? You can micro-dose arsenic daily and it won't kill you for a very long time either. Do humans ever lean to stop avoiding and side-stepping inconvenient truths?
ReplyDeleteI agree. I just lost my lovebird this morning, and the first thing that I thought after the initial weeping was, what does this do to humans long-term?!
Delete