Please help. Burnt plastic fumes

[Lucho]

About 3-4 hours ago we had a cooking accident where plastic tongs were left on a burner and they started smoking and melted. They weren’t burning for long but the whole house smelled like it. Now it smells significantly less than earlier and can only be smelled when you first enter the house. I took both of my birds out about 10 minutes after we realized it was burning and they have been in our outdoor patio ever since. I have been adamant about keeping the birds outside of the house but my whole family thinks I’m exaggerating and want to move them in already. I want to move them back in as soon as safely possible but i can’t find much about the lingering effects of burnt plastic with birds and my local vet is closed. I might just be too precautious but I’m terrified of anything happening to them and would rather be safe then sorry. Any information about what to do would be great. I’m really concerned about the fumes and if anything that was burnt can harm the birds even if I can’t smell anything anymore. Also was wondering if any harm could have been done to them in the short time they were exposed. They were in a completely different room and never passed through the kitchen on the way to the patio.

 

[onamom]

Great job getting them away and to clean air! Always better to be safe than sorry. I’d continue to keep a close eye on them and wouldn’t move them back until the smell is completely gone. Keep us posted!

 

[LaManuka]

About 3-4 hours ago we had a cooking accident where plastic tongs were left on a burner and they started smoking and melted. They weren’t burning for long but the whole house smelled like it. Now it smells significantly less than earlier and can only be smelled when you first enter the house. I took both of my birds out about 10 minutes after we realized it was burning and they have been in our outdoor patio ever since. I have been adamant about keeping the birds outside of the house but my whole family thinks I’m exaggerating and want to move them in already. I want to move them back in as soon as safely possible but i can’t find much about the lingering effects of burnt plastic with birds and my local vet is closed. I might just be too precautious but I’m terrified of anything happening to them and would rather be safe then sorry. Any information about what to do would be great. I’m really concerned about the fumes and if anything that was burnt can harm the birds even if I can’t smell anything anymore. Also was wondering if any harm could have been done to them in the short time they were exposed. They were in a completely different room and never passed through the kitchen on the way to the patio.

You are definitely wise to keep them out of harm's way until that smell dissipates. I once had a plastic container melt in the microwave due to a stray piece of metal foil being in there, and the fumes from that would have been similarly dangerous to those in your situation. It didn't smoke for very long but of course at that precise moment my then lorikeet Lilly decided to zoom over and see what all the fuss in the kitchen was about!! Fortunately we have doors to the kitchen that we can close off but she got WAAAAYYY too close for comfort and I was completely panic stricken and could SWEAR i smelled the smoke on her feathers and I thought I'd killed her for sure!! A bit of the smoke got into the living room but thankfully the open windows, the extractor fan in the kitchen and those hastily closed doors were enough to save her and the rest of my flock, and I kept the kitchen doors closed for the rest of the night. Nothing can ever be 100% guaranteed in this situation but I would suggest that if you're able to keep your birds as far from the kitchen as you can until tomorrow they *should* be ok, and I'm praying that they will be. If you're still concerned by tomorrow perhaps you could speak to your vet about it over the phone to see what they say. And as @onamom says, please keep us posted!

 

[Lucho]

You are definitely wise to keep them out of harm's way until that smell dissipates. I once had a plastic container melt in the microwave due to a stray piece of metal foil being in there, and the fumes from that would have been similarly dangerous to those in your situation. It didn't smoke for very long but of course at that precise moment my then lorikeet Lilly decided to zoom over and see what all the fuss in the kitchen was about!! Fortunately we have doors to the kitchen that we can close off but she got WAAAAYYY too close for comfort and I was completely panic stricken and could SWEAR i smelled the smoke on her feathers and I thought I'd killed her for sure!! A bit of the smoke got into the living room but thankfully the open windows, the extractor fan in the kitchen and those hastily closed doors were enough to save her and the rest of my flock, and I kept the kitchen doors closed for the rest of the night. Nothing can ever be 100% guaranteed in this situation but I would suggest that if you're able to keep your birds as far from the kitchen as you can until tomorrow they *should* be ok, and I'm praying that they will be. If you're still concerned by tomorrow perhaps you could speak to your vet about it over the phone to see what they say. And as @onamom says, please keep us posted!

Thank you so much for responding! Hearing that someone has had a similar experience and that their birds turned out ok really helped to calm my nerves. I opened a window in my room and put and air purifier in there with a fan blowing the bad air out and the room had no smoke smell at all after a couple of hours so I moved them back in. They hate the patio and I think they would have been way too scared to actually sleep out there so I’m grateful that the smell went away so quickly. I’m going to let them sleep through the night and watch them continuously tomorrow to insure that they are ok. Thanks again!

 

[Lucho]

Great job getting them away and to clean air! Always better to be safe than sorry. I’d continue to keep a close eye on them and wouldn’t move them back until the smell is completely gone. Keep us posted!

Thank you for responding so quickly! I was with them for hours after the incident and they both acted completely normal and were eating, drinking, and playing like usual. I’m going to watch them continuously tomorrow to make sure I don’t have to make a vet appointment . I really appreciate your feedback!