Do you have any pets (especially birds)?
" Self Cleaning Ovens Can Be Harmful To Pets
by Holly Cook
Professional Pet Sitter
Special Pet Care Services
As a professional petsitter, I have encountered many stories about pets being hurt or killed by something that was not thought of as lethal. Such is the case with new self cleaning ovens.
Although some of them do have a warning label on the oven, most only warn the owner in the instruction manual. When a self cleaning oven is "cycled" for the first time, it warms to over 900 degrees in order to "cure" the insulation in the oven. The odor it gives off has been described to me as burning lacquer. It is an offensive odor. During this curing process, the oven emits fumes that are so toxic, they EXCEED EPA standard levels of safety.
Finding information concerning this issue is difficult at best. Pocket pets and birds are at the most risk for upper respiratory distress and death. I personally know of two birds who have died as a direct result of these toxic fumes. Litigation is under way."
vetmedicine.about.com/library/viewers/uc-self-cleaning-ovens.htm"Thank you for making this information available to all. I wanted you to be informed about a serious danger to birds that I found out about the hard way. Did you know how dangerous the self cleaning cycle of your oven is to the life of small birds? I was doing just that in my new oven and when I was done 6 of my 10 birds were dead. I was just lucky that the door to the room where the 4 birds that survived were in was shut that day. I tried to figure out if something else had caused this, but none of the food or water could have been the problem, since they were in different cages and their food and water was changed on different days. When I called the company that made my stove they admitted this was a danger, but they were not required to list this danger anywhere in their manual. only the possible danger of the chemicals that were burned off being linked to cancer and birth problems. I just thought you might know of some way to get the message out that if people are not careful to put their birds in a separate room with the door closed while they are running the self cleaning cycle of their oven they too could suffer the loss that my family did. I lost 1 trained speaking Cockatiel,4 Peach faced Lovebirds 2 of which I raised from hatchlings, and a blue Parakeet. A few days after I lost my birds I read an article in the Anne Landers column of a woman who lost her parakeets to the same fate. Also I have been spreading the word to friends and family. I don't want anyone else to have to deal with what I and my family had to. I hope you can do something to help spread the word if birds are as important to you as I believe they must be for you to have this website. Thank you for your time. Sincerely, Mrs. Janet Duncan"
www2.microgear.net/msgbirds/Info/Self%20Cleaning%20Oven%20Warning.html