This is my first time here. What an interesting board, and it makes one count their blessings to read awhile.

I was reading some posts about odors and Febreeze, and it got me to thinking, there is a "home disaster" I read about happening to someone at least once a week, that is preventable; pet poisoning by toxic fumes. Birds, especially, are very sensitive to many of the products we use. That's why canaries were taken into mines in the old days, to act as sensors of small amounts of toxic gas before it killed the men. Some toxins include:

Fumes from non-stick cookware (especially if pan is overheated or empty).

Teflon type coating on some light bulbs, same as for non-stick cookware. A zoo once had many exotic birds die from using these bulbs in an aviary as heat source.

Self cleaning cycle of oven. One manufacturer now puts a warning in the manual.

Fabric treatments to make furniture stain resistant.

Scented candles.

Fabric freshening sprays.

Air fresheners, including the plug in kind.

Bug sprays, weed killers.

Paints.

Nail polish and remover.

Cleaning products that have toxic fumes.

Disinfectants especially aerosol.

Spray deoderant and hair spray.

Some people have had autopsies done on birds that die suddenly and now it is known that many of these products can cause sudden death in birds particularly. There are more complete lists, and lists of alternative cleansers, etc, on most bird message boards and sites. Hope you don't mind me posting this here, it is definitely a disaster when this happens to someone. Thanks.