Monday, August 20, 2007

Teflon and Dead Canaries

My sister asked me about Teflon and nonstick pans. Are they safe? Well, I dunno.

Teflon fumes kill birds. Every so often there's another article about someone's parrot falling off his perch. Or his canary. About twenty birdies died in the San Antonio Zoo a while back after they'd cozied up to the light bulbs to get warm. The bulbs, it turned out, were coated with Teflon. And if birds are our canaries in the mine, well, as I said, I don't know.

Teflon,or rather the chemical in Teflon, has a lot of trade names. And it's on all kinds of things. It's depressing to think about, so I won't list them. But here's a link in case you have a bird. Or think you might be sprouting wings.

www.budgies.org/info/teflon.html

No comments: