[3][4] Polymerization of tetrafluoroethylene produces polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) polymers such as Teflon and Fluon.

Typical TFE-based fluoroplastics include ETFE, the alternating 1:1 copolymer with ethylene, and PFA, which is a random copolymer similar to FEP but with a minor amount of a perfluoroalkyl vinyl ether (PAVE) rather than HFP.

PTFE polymer cracks, and at a pressure below 5 Torr (670 Pa) exclusively C2F4 is obtained.

Owing to the presence of four fluorine substituents, its reactions differ strongly from the behavior of conventional alkenes such as ethylene.

[9] Explosions can also be caused by adiabatic compression if the TFE is handled under high pressure, which it typically is in an industrial setting.

[10] In industry, pipework is flushed with pressurized nitrogen, before the introduction of TFE, both to exclude oxygen and prevent adiabatic compression.

[11] The International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies TFE as probably carcinogenic to humans based on animal studies.