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wrote:

> Here's one, recent too: Death is by teflon outgassing or PTFE. Do you
> agree now? Formalin is formaldehyde that you mentioned as an absurd
> possibility. Now it is not so absurd. Did I misunderstand the abstract?

I misunderstood the formalin. They are referring to fixing the lungs of
the dead chickens in formalin, not that formalin formed in the lungs?
In any case, PTFE cause pulmonary edema and the death of the chickens.
So that's proof enough that PTFE can kill birds and it's not a fairy
tale.

> Avian Dis. 2000 Apr-Jun;44(2):449-53.
> Polytetrafluoroethylene gas intoxication in broiler chickens.
> Boucher M, Ehmler TJ, Bermudez AJ.
> Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine,
> University of Missouri-Columbia, 65211, USA.
>
> A poultry research facility that housed 2400 Peterson x Hubbard
> cross broilers (48 pens of 50 chicks each) experienced 4% mortality
> within 24 hr of chick placement. Mortality started within 4 hr of
> placement, and within 72 hr, cumulative mortality had reached 52%. Mild
> dyspnea was the only clinical sign noted in some chicks prior to death.
> The primary gross lesion noted in the chicks submitted was moderate to
> severe pulmonary congestion. The lungs of four of these chicks sank in
> formalin, and blood-tinged fluid was noted in the mouth and nares of
> two chicks. The microscopic lesions noted in the affected chicks were
> moderate to severe pulmonary edema and congestion. The diagnosis
> indicated to the submitter was that pulmonary edema caused by exposure
> to an unidentified noxious gas caused the death of the chicks. The
> poultry house environment was tested for sulfur dioxide, oxides of
> nitrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and volatile organic
> compounds (as produced by combustion engines); all tests were negative
> for significant levels of these compounds. A second broiler flock was
> placed in the same facility and the mortality at 6 wk was 11%, which
> was greater than the 2.5%-4.7% mortality seen in the previous four
> flocks on the farm. Further investigation revealed that the only change
> in management practice in this facility prior to the onset of the
> severe mortality problem was the replacement of 48 heat lamp bulbs (one
> for each pen). The new heat lamp bulbs were polytetrafluoroethylene
> (PTFE) coated. PTFE gas intoxication has been reported in several
> exotic avian species, but this intoxication has not been previously
> reported in a poultry flock.