fever, shaking chills, arthralgias, myalgias, headache, and malaise
Polymer fume feverorfluoropolymer fever, also informally called Teflon flu, is an inhalation fever caused by the fumes released when polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE, known under the trade name Teflon) reaches temperatures of 300 °C (572 °F) to 450 °C (842 °F).[1]
When PTFE is heated above 450 °C the pyrolysis products are different and inhalation may cause acute lung injury.[2] Symptoms are flu-like (chills, headaches and fevers) with chest tightness and mild cough. Onset occurs about 4 to 8 hours after exposure to the pyrolysis products of PTFE.[3]Ahigh white blood cell count may be seen and chest x-ray findings are usually minimal.
The polymer fumes are especially harmful to certain animals whose breathing, optimized for rapidity, allows in toxins which are excluded by human lungs. Fumes from Teflon in very high heat are fatal to parrots,[4] as well as some other birds (PTFE toxicosis).[5]
^Shusterman, D. J. (1 July 1993). "Polymer fume fever and other fluorocarbon pyrolysis-related syndromes". Occupational Medicine. 8 (3): 519–531. ISSN0885-114X. PMID8272977.
