"CAUTION: For safety, please keep pet birds out of the kitchen."

[flvegan]

Seriously, off this new pan we got this warning, with this reasoning:

"Birds' respiratory systems are sensitive to many kinds of household fumes, including the fumes from extremely overheated non-stick pans."

What? What an odd "Caution" to have. Why not "CAUTION: For safety, please don't allow your 4 year old son to cook his GI Joe figures in this pan."

On edit, thanks to a couple DUers, I see that this is an actual honest to goodness issue. I thought it was a bad translation or stupid addition.

No shit:

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=15&cat=1829&articleid=2874

[LeftyMom]

1. I wouldn't know, because I DON'T HAVE ANY NEW PANS.

My boyfriend is so fired.

[flvegan]

2. Drop the zero and get with the hero, baby YEAH!

Oh, shit...wait...

[LeftyMom]

3. It's only :checks watch:

seven months late come this friday.

[bicentennial_baby]

4. *cough* *cough* Wedding Present 12+ months late... *cough*

:evilgrin:

[LeftyMom]

5. Yeah, but I'm not trying to get in your pants.

And I had a present, and LeftyKid got into it. He has no such excuse (ignore his tales of woe about Amazon being out of stock, crooked ebay sellers, etc. I'm trying to make a point here.)

[skygazer]

6. flvegan, could you check your pm?

I have a pit bull rescue question for you... :hi:

[flvegan]

10. Done, now check yours.

[Magrittes Pipe]

7. Meh. Parrots are no more related to chickens than we are to cattle.

Now, I imagine that as a vegan, you don't eat much beef. ;) But still, I doubt Polly much cares if you cook a galliform.

I have parrots, and I don't use Teflon. Ever. Haven't used PTFE cookware since I first began keeping birds a decade ago, it just isn't worth the risk. And yeah, if it's fatal to birds, it's probably not that good for us, either.

[flvegan]

9. There's really a risk?

I'm being very serious. I had no idea. Why specific to birds like this?

[Magrittes Pipe]

12. Polytetrafluoroethylene (DuPont calls it Teflon) emits highly toxic fumes at high temperatures.

Chances are, most home cooking applications won't release the fumes (we're talking well over 400 degrees). But if you leave your pot unattended, or try to cook over super high heat with a nonstick pan, you run the risk of releasing PTFE fumes. Because birds have a much more sensitive respiratory system (c.f. the canary in the coal mine -- they need all that extra oxygen to work their flying muscles), they are far more suceptible to fumes in their environment.

The bird raised in captivity has no means to survive in the wild. Still, we who practice avian husbandry must strive to keep their environment as close as reasonably and safely as is possible to their natural environment. That means large living quarters, a varied and healthy diet, and plenty of clean, fresh air. And, of course, every bit as much love and affection as one would give a dog (maybe more, in the sense that most parrots are pair-bonders). Oh, and of course we keep our unruly bulldog out of the room when the bird is out. He'd never intentionally hurt anyone, not even a wee birdy, but he's rambunctious and playful -- 60 pounds of bouncing bulldog is no match for a 2-ounce lovebird. The pug is fine, though, he's afraid of the bird. ;)

[flvegan]

13. Thanks, hedges.

I really had no idea. Hope you caught the edit to my OP.

[Magrittes Pipe]

14. Yep.

Birds are often misunderstood. Hell, most people who HAVE birds have no idea what the fuck they're doing, or what their companions' special needs are.

[XemaSab]

8. Birds have died from the fumes off of nonstick pans

It's a serious warning. :o

[flvegan]

11. I honestly had no idea.

That seems so, just, bizarre to me.

I need to do a bit of research on this.

[buzzard]

15. It's true kind of like the canaries in the coal mines they were used as indicators because they

were so sensitive to methane and carbon monoxide, they saved a lot of miners lives. Me I have parrots and don't use teflon because of the toxicity.

[Pisces]

16. I lost my parrot due to a new teflon pan in the oven. I didn't know. It was heartbreaking.

[yewberry]

17. Oh, no. I'm so sorry.

What an awful thing to have happen. I know it would break my heart, too.

[flvegan]

22. I'm so sorry.

I hope that my stupidity educates other folks.

[jobycom]

18. Don't you love it when you learn a lesson the easy way?

I had never heard that, either. Makes you wonder what they do to the rest of the critters around the house, including the opposable thumbsians.

[flvegan]

19. DUers have taught me so much. Yes, yes I do

love learning something like this.

There is a wealth of knowledge here, honestly.

[jobycom]

20. No kidding. Did you see the dentist thread earlier?

[flvegan]

21. No. Link?

[jobycom]

23. .

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=3649643&mesg_id=3649643

Skip the early weirdness. The OP and then the bottom half were fascinating. To me, anyway. I'm easily amused.