General > General Technical Chat

Killing yourself with solvents (Alcohols and Hydrocarbons I have loved)

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Cerebus:
This is intended to pick up the off topic discussion from the moderation reports thread.

Cerebus:

--- Quote from: vk6zgo on May 13, 2020, 12:20:17 am ---
--- Quote from: MK14 on May 12, 2020, 04:30:56 pm ---
--- Quote from: vk6zgo on May 12, 2020, 01:58:47 am ---The stuff we call Methylated Spirits  or "Metho" in Oz is only allowed to contain 5% of Methanol , which is allegedly the stuff which is "toxic to the skin".
In the real world, though "Metho", in almost evey case in this country contains no  Methanol at all!

As to "skin toxicity", people have been using Metho as a cleaning fluid, & as an alternative to surgical alcohol for over a century, & reports of toxicity of that kind are nowhere to be found.

People assume that because a lot of something is dangerous, a very small amount is equally dangerous.

Hell, we use "Rat Poison" (Warfarin) to treat blood clotting, & Atropine, extracted from Deadly Nightshade for heart problems!

--- End quote ---

Thanks for the reply, it was interesting!

You could be right, especially in "Oz". But, it is (to me), a complicated subject area. I looked into it a bit further. It seems "Methanol", may not be the only chemical in it. So, maybe one of the others, causes the skin issues ?

Apparently, in the UK, there is also "Industrial Methylated Spirits", which seems to need special permission, from the authorities, before being allowed to purchase. It is a lot purer, and more suited to some more specialist uses.

https://www.chemicals.co.uk/blog/what-are-methylated-spirits

--- End quote ---

I think it is most likely that the mix in the UK is different.
We don't put dye in ours either!

That said, back in the day, stuff like carbon tetrachloride was commonly used for cleaning electronic equipment, but was banned (in Oz) back in the late 1950s.

Nearly as bad was Trichlorethylene,  which was used in "Servisol" for many years.
I remember getting a batch of Servisol where the carton had been damaged, with the stuff leaked all over.
Some leaks were from the body of the can, & some from the cap, so we put the good bodies & caps together & salvaged the stuff by decanting them from one to another.

Leaded petrol, "Mineral Turps", "Range fuel", diesel fuel, acetone, carurettor cleaner, etc are all things which were enthusiastically used for cleaning various items, & got on bare skin.

We washed our hands vigorously after messing with them, though----most of them stink!!

This is getting seriously off topic, but is interesting, & perhaps needs a thread of its own.

--- End quote ---

I was a great fan of Trichlorethylene and was rather miffed when it went the way of all flesh because of new regulations about chlorinated solvents. Nothing beat it as degreasing agent without being either very much more flammable or much more toxic.

The toxicity profile of Trichlorethylene was actually very good, the only real drawback was that it was quite possible to knock yourself out with it if you were stupid enough to use something so volatile in an unventilated space - it's chemically very closely related to Halothane (2-Bromo-2-chloro-1,1,1-trifluoroethane) which is an inhalational anaesthetic.

Carbon Tet. was all over the place back in the day. Used to be used by dry cleaners until somebody finally got the memo that it was rather more than just a suspected carcinogen. Replaced in dry cleaning with Trichlorethylene. I always associate the smell of Trichlorethylene and with libraries, there was a dry cleaners smack next to the main library where I grew up and there was always a lingering smell of it in the area.

Cubdriver:
We used to go through trichlor by the gallon degreasing evaporater and sputterer shielding at National Semi.  It would sit in a potassium hydroxide bath until the aluminum deposits had been dissolved, then multiple DI water rinses (may have been a dip in mild acid along the way, too, I can't quite recall as it was 30+ years ago and I typically only helped out with the degreasing part and not the initial clean) followed by a very liberal trichlor-acetone-methanol degrease, spraying it on with a modified blowgun set up as an atomizer.  The evaporation of the solvents made it a bone-chilling task and you'd wind up with very numb fingers after a short time.  Wish I'd had the foresight to pilfer a gallon or 5 of the trichlor!

-Pat

MK14:
 :popcorn:

I've been PM'ing, anyone, who continues to reply, to any of my past posts in the moderation thread. To avoid polluting/disrupting it any further.

Talking of polluting, there use to be Evo-stick Glue in the UK (google says there still is!).
The stuff from many decades ago, would stink like crazy, from its solvent(s). Some kind of fast evaporating solvent, which I'm not sure off-hand, what it was. I bet/suspect, it doesn't use that solvent, any more.

drussell:

--- Quote from: Cerebus on May 13, 2020, 01:10:01 am ---I was a great fan of Trichlorethylene and was rather miffed when it went the way of all flesh because of new regulations about chlorinated solvents. Nothing beat it as degreasing agent without being either very much more flammable or much more toxic.
--- End quote ---

Hmm...  Wierd.

It is still readily available here in Canada (well, Alberta, at least) as automotive brake cleaner.  It is my favorite version of brake cleaner, especially since it very useful for so many purposes.

This can in my hand is CRC Brakleen brand, in a red and white can...   This partial-remnant-can that happens to be sitting on top of my fridge for quick "household" uses without having to run out to the garage happens to say it is made in the USA, but it is obviously an export-to-Canada version of the can since it has only English and French on it and says (C) 2017 CRC Canada.

Edit: Manufacturer number is 75089, it's about $6 per can at AutoValue here for the regular-size 539g cans.

It would probably get randomly stopped in customs if I tried to send you some, though, knowing my luck.  :)

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