My bro put a teflon or plastic spatula in the top rack of a load of dishes in the dishwasher. Well, during the rinse sequence the spatula apparently fell into the very bottom. When the heated dry sequence initiated, the heating pad was in contact with the spatula and melted it. When my brother opened the dishwasher he was bombarded by stinky chemical smelling steam – fumes. Now (a few hours later) he has a chemical taste in his mouth and nausea – and exhaustion. He’s feeling a little better and drove over here – but does this thing happen often and could it ever be life-threatening or carry serious health implications??
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Teflon, also known polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) itself is relatively inert.
If heated hot enough, though(several hundred degrees), it can decompose and give off some potentially nasty and unhealthy gases. I don’t know right off the top of my head what these would be, but I know that certain species of pet birds are especially sensitive to them.
This hazard can generally be avoided, though, by not heating teflon cookware when empty.
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