I'm sure the threshold I've read about is above 260*C on a scratched Teflon coating, not 300. Maybe it has something to do with how it's attached to the pan. That temperature can actually be achieved since, even though frying oil has a lower smoke point, the hotspots on the pan can be much higher.
Nixie said:
You've never seen my sister cook 🙂 mashed potato with teflon was a dish at one point. See apparently it can be chiselled off a pan too..
Sy, yep NOT polystyrene I "misremembered" for whatever reason I recalled it had a CN group, it doesnt... now trying to remeber which common plastic does going to drive me NUTS
Andy
Its ABS isnt it....
Meanwhile I just found out that Paxolin and Bakelite cause Cancer
OH COME ONNNNnnn!!!
http://www.baggressive.com/ld/content/material.php
Meanwhile I just found out that Paxolin and Bakelite cause Cancer
OH COME ONNNNnnn!!!
http://www.baggressive.com/ld/content/material.php
andrew_whitham said:
Yes, ABS is one of the plastics that can give off cyanide. BTW, so can almonds.
ALWAYS wear a dust mask when cutting plastics and composites! Once they're cut and clean, the hazard is minimal.
It depends on the grade, the presence or absence of oxygen, additives, and a whole host of other things. Certainly at soldering temps, it's quite safe. PFA and PTFE are rated at 260 C continuous and is extruded at 300-400 C. FEP's ratings are lower.
Heatsink material debate is split off to here:
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=96948
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=96948
I was very ill with bronchitis once in winter ~15 years ago. It was -15F outside and that means VERY dry air. I was trying to humidify my place quickly with a teflon (silverstone IIRC) coated 3 Qt sauce pan on a gas stove.
Long story short I fell asleep and woke up to a _horrible_ smell, looked over to the stove and the teflon pan was smoking. I ran over and threw the mildly glowing pan in the sink and doused it with water. That released even more stench.
I ran my window fan at full blast for an hour and waited outside in my car. Despite cooling the place down into the 30's, the smell seemed unabated so I found the source, took the water filled pan outside and threw it away. Several more hours outside and I came back in to a tolerable place in the house to get warm. I already had a fever, but the pan fumes caused such an odd sensation in my skin that I remember taking a shower to feel clean. I got better, but I could still smell the overheated pan for over a week in my place despite constant ventilation. I wonder what sorts of chemicals they would have found in an analysis of my tissues at the time and how much they have gone down since.
I now use teflon pans very carefully and only for delicate things like eggs and pancakes.
The flakes from a damaged teflon pan will just go through your digestive system and not cause harm, but the fact that the surface is uneven makes it hard to clean and diminishes the nonstick quality. Throw them out when they get scratched.....and don't overheat! If you overheat a pan (I did it in a minor way another time when "seasoning" a new $$$ pan per mfg instructions) throw it away. I washed and soaked the overheated $$$ pan many times and weeks later I could still smell the characteristic smell on simply test boiling water in that pan. I ended up throwing away a pan I never used.
Long story short I fell asleep and woke up to a _horrible_ smell, looked over to the stove and the teflon pan was smoking. I ran over and threw the mildly glowing pan in the sink and doused it with water. That released even more stench.
I ran my window fan at full blast for an hour and waited outside in my car. Despite cooling the place down into the 30's, the smell seemed unabated so I found the source, took the water filled pan outside and threw it away. Several more hours outside and I came back in to a tolerable place in the house to get warm. I already had a fever, but the pan fumes caused such an odd sensation in my skin that I remember taking a shower to feel clean. I got better, but I could still smell the overheated pan for over a week in my place despite constant ventilation. I wonder what sorts of chemicals they would have found in an analysis of my tissues at the time and how much they have gone down since.
I now use teflon pans very carefully and only for delicate things like eggs and pancakes.
The flakes from a damaged teflon pan will just go through your digestive system and not cause harm, but the fact that the surface is uneven makes it hard to clean and diminishes the nonstick quality. Throw them out when they get scratched.....and don't overheat! If you overheat a pan (I did it in a minor way another time when "seasoning" a new $$$ pan per mfg instructions) throw it away. I washed and soaked the overheated $$$ pan many times and weeks later I could still smell the characteristic smell on simply test boiling water in that pan. I ended up throwing away a pan I never used.
Hmm,
A Google search on Teflon showed up a lot of killed PET birds but no killed people 🙂
Other links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teflon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teflon_flu
Cheers 😉
A Google search on Teflon showed up a lot of killed PET birds but no killed people 🙂
Other links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teflon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teflon_flu
Cheers 😉
I see no reason to use teflon pans. Properly oiled cast iron, and tinned pans such as the copper ones, do not stick.
Upon reading my post it is not clear what I was doing - I was boiling water in the pan to humidify my place and I fell asleep, the pan boiled dry and got very hot and was smoking when I awoke to the smell.
I had a fever at the time due to being very ill with bronchitis, so I can't say whether I got a fever or not from the fumes, but I can tell you that the itchy sweaty feeling on my skin was quite strange, and I will remember it. My cough may have got a little worse, but that may have been due to being outside in a chilly car waiting for the fumes to dissipate. The smell of these pans when overheated is remarkable, sort of a metallic, bitter burning plastic smell. I can almost smell it now just remembering it.
THe pan I burnt had an especially thick black coating and worked great before I wrecked it. The coating was sort of porous and ashen after overheating - it would partially scrape off with a spoon.
I had a fever at the time due to being very ill with bronchitis, so I can't say whether I got a fever or not from the fumes, but I can tell you that the itchy sweaty feeling on my skin was quite strange, and I will remember it. My cough may have got a little worse, but that may have been due to being outside in a chilly car waiting for the fumes to dissipate. The smell of these pans when overheated is remarkable, sort of a metallic, bitter burning plastic smell. I can almost smell it now just remembering it.
THe pan I burnt had an especially thick black coating and worked great before I wrecked it. The coating was sort of porous and ashen after overheating - it would partially scrape off with a spoon.
Didn't you go to a doctor afterwards? I hope you don't get cancer from this somewhere down the line.
Nixie said:
No, I had no insurance.
About 5 years ago I got a fairly rare form of testicular cancer. Many germ cell tumors have some component of immature teratoma in them, but essentially none are pure immature teratoma in adults. Children are sometimes found to have this type of cancer in the brain or mediastinum with secondary testicular tumors.
I have no idea if it is related or not, and I certainly wouldn't make that claim without more data, but I have since learned that certain products used in manufacturing "teflon" have been implicated in reproductive and glandular cancers:
http://www.pollutioninpeople.org/results/report/chapter-4/pfcs_3
Sue anyway. At least talk to a good lawyer. You may be able to get a settlement so they avoid bad publicity, even if you can't prove it's the cause.
Eh? My story is to relate that overheating this chemical is to be avoided, not to cash in on rumors. I saw a national TV news story that showed that chemicals were released when frying bacon at a lower temperature than discussed by the manufacturer. I don't use it for most things anymore, but it still is the only thing that works for me without lots of oil for eggs and pancakes and other delicate foods...
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