[Spinny]

Hi !

I have a question about toxicity and safety of Teflon.
As I know there is no problem if this material is heated up to 200^oC.

DuPont performed an experiment in 1960-s. Several volunteers had to smoke cigarettes laced with 0.4 mg of Teflon. DuPont reported that those people had flu-like symptoms.
We have a device in the laboratory which should be heated and there are few details made of Teflon that will heat too.
What minimal mass of Teflon and at what temperature can be fatal for human ?

Thanks

[phth]

It's funny you mention DuPont because their chemists were guinea pigs for a while because of the chemical called "C8": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfluorooctanoic_acid  There is alot of toxicity information about it, and it is in 97% of humans.  Here is an op-ed about it: https://theintercept.com/2015/08/11/dupont-chemistry-deception/

[Spinny]

As I understand C8 isn't the only toxic product of thermal decomposition of teflon. HF, OF2 and so on. I want to know what amount of Teflon and at what temperature may be fatal for human ?

[kriggy]

I guess that if you are frying something on a oil, the temperature is above 150°C, maybe even close to 200°C.  I dont thonk that it dangerous, wiki says that the pyrolysis starts at 200°C but the concentration of the products is low so there is no dangerour concentration of them untill the temperature reaches 250°C or more

[Spinny]

Thanks, I know that but I've pointed the conditions that are interesting to me. Once again: what mass and at what temperature can be fatal for human ?