Cases of “Teflon flu” — an ailment associated with cooking in a nonstick pan — are rising, leading to questions about just how safe the nonstick cookware is to use.
Teflon is the brand name for polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), and is “among the most chemically inert, nontoxic, and nonflammable substances tested under normal usage conditions, and is not metabolized,” a report inEarth and Planetary Sciencessaid.
That’s when you could be at risk of what’s commonly known as “Teflon flu” — or its technical term, “Polymer fume fever.”
As the National Library of Medicine explains, it’s “an underrecognized flu-like illness associated with inhaling the thermal degradation byproducts of fluorocarbons. Overheating polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) coated nonstick (Teflon®) cookware represents the most common avenue of exposure.”
“Patients with polymer fume fever classically present with fever, malaise, dyspnea [shortness of breath], chest tightness, and a dry cough a few hours after exposure.”
Significant exposure can lead to pulmonary edema (potentially life-threatening lung congestion) or leukocytosis (a high white blood cell count) in humans; If you have pet birds, however, the Poison Control Center cautions that “even normal amounts of heat can produce enough toxic fumes to cause illness in birds. Unfortunately, the first sign of this illness in birds is often sudden death.”
As for humans, cases of “Teflon flu” are on the rise, the Washington Post reports, with suspected 267 cases of the illness reported last year — the most since 2000.
