title: Polymer fume fever and other fluorocarbon pyrolysis-related syndromes.
abstract: Polymer fume fever usually occurs as a self-limited systemic illness with only minor pulmonary symptoms. Like metal fume fever, constitutional signs and symptoms typically present several hours after initial exposure, often giving rise to a misdiagnosis of viral "flu." Compared to metal fume fever, polymer fume fever has a more varied clinical presentation, the severity of which depends upon the specific conditions of exposure. When higher temperatures and/or longer durations of exposure are involved, significant pulmonary involvement, including radiographic consolidation, is a potential complication. Although a number of industrial outbreaks have implicated the smoking of contaminated cigarettes as a vehicle of exposure, any industrial or household activity in which PTFE is heated above 350-400 degrees C puts nearby workers or residents at risk of illness and is to be avoided without strict industrial hygiene controls.
authors.affiliation: Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, University of California, San Francisco.
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Shusterman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002617:Chemical Industry; D005334:Fever / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000453:epidemiology; D005390:Fires; D005466:Fluorocarbons / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008452:Maximum Allowable Concentration; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D011108:Polymers / Q000009:adverse effects*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D005466:Fluorocarbons; D011108:Polymers