Earlier quoted context omitted.
Things i wish i knew before buying a fixer upper car is all the chemicals involved. Just one sniff of the brake cleaner and the rest of the day is gone. Probably some IQ ponis down the drain too. Should've just bought a tesla and be done with it...
> IQ ponis This made me laugh. Well played, sir.
Benzene Exposure Alters Endocrine Activity
91–100 of 165 posts
Re: Benzene Exposure Alters Endocrine Activity
#92Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is that only for urban areas? I dimly recall old style nozzles still in use while driving cross country.
Good god, it seems like y'all dropped the requirement for Stage 2 vapor recovery systems in 2011 [1] based on the pretense of onboard filters in vehicles being enough... meanwhile here in the EU, where many member countries already had national requirements for years prior to that, we passed that requirement in 2009 [2]. The US attitude, particular to expensive systems, on anything emissions related continues to nega…
I'm sure it was a combination of not wanting to spend money and customers feeling the new pumps with vapor recovery systems were too difficult to operate and so sought out stations that hadn't yet upgraded.
Re: Benzene Exposure Alters Endocrine Activity
#93All I recall besides being one of many carcinogens is that it's in cigarette smoke. From a Dutch health page. [ https://www.rivm.nl/en/tobacco/harmful-substances-in-tobacco... ] > For smokers, tobacco smoke is the most important source of exposure to benzene. It is released in the smoke when tobacco is burned. Non-smokers are also exposed through tobacco smoke when they inhale smoke passively. A typical smoker inhale…
Canada also has a page on Benzene if you want to compare notes: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/environmenta...
Re: Benzene Exposure Alters Endocrine Activity
#94Earlier quoted context omitted.
That doesn’t solve the problem of people splashing it on themselves, from faulty handles, which I’ve experienced and seen within the last decade.
My father (and me) washed engine parts with gasoline. And occasionally degreased our hands (followed by dish soap and sugar). We practically bathed in the stuff. Then my father discovered Goop. My father also dumped engine oil into storm drains. Then into the ground when that was banned. Yes, he was an idiot. (Becoming a treehugger was probably an act of rebellion.)
Not only does gasoline contain toxic components, it's also incredibly flammable. While using gasoline as a degreaser was a common practice, it's a pretty dangerous habit. Not to mention back when leaded gasoline was a thing, it left a shimmering effect on your hands after the gasoline evaporated. Fun times. Diesel is a lot safer.
For cleaning bike gears etc. I've used a DIY degreaser with water, fuel alcohol, baking soda, and dishwashing liquid. Works ok, and is cheap.
Re: Benzene Exposure Alters Endocrine Activity
#95This topic was recently brought to attention by David Friedberg in the latest episode of the All-In podcast. https://youtu.be/5cQXjboJwg0?t=6645 (1:50:45)
Re: Benzene Exposure Alters Endocrine Activity
#96Earlier quoted context omitted.
My father (and me) washed engine parts with gasoline. And occasionally degreased our hands (followed by dish soap and sugar). We practically bathed in the stuff. Then my father discovered Goop. My father also dumped engine oil into storm drains. Then into the ground when that was banned. Yes, he was an idiot. (Becoming a treehugger was probably an act of rebellion.)
My father used to change the car oil on the lawn rather than the driveway. He would do this less than 100 ft from the well that supplied our drinking water. At some point he stopped but it certainly lasted through multiple vehicles.
That well is probably contaminated still.
Bought a new house in a semi-rural area, had only ever been farms, zero petrol stations ever existed within at least a 4-mile radius, and mostly downhill.
Yet the water test found MTBE [0], Methyl tert-butyl ether, a gasoline additive.
Had to maintain and replace an activated carbon filter in the water system ever since.
The only possibility is some farmer decades ago dumping oil (IDK if it is in there, or gets in there from piston-ring blow-by) or leaking gasoline somewhere in the watershed.
Awful.
Re: Benzene Exposure Alters Endocrine Activity
#97Earlier quoted context omitted.
A lot of chemicals seem to have effects on the endocrine system. I wonder if there is potentially an issue with them in aggregate. Such that the dose of any single chemical isn't problematic but all of them together with similar effects causes a problem.
>I wonder if there is potentially an issue with them in aggregate. Such that the dose of any single chemical isn't problematic but all of them together with similar effects causes a problem. I've been wondering about this a lot in recent years. Particularly in regards to medications/pharmaceuticals but also environmental containments/traces (which can include pharmaceuticals of course), pair with this what we are jus…
What would even happen if we found out plastics are unsafe in small amounts? You'd about have to remake half the world at this point.
Re: Benzene Exposure Alters Endocrine Activity
#98When I was taking organic chemistry my (mid-to-late 60s at the time in ~20010) teacher told us an anecdote about benzene when we started learning about aromatic molecules. She told us that they used to clean their lab bench with benzene solvent to make it sparkling clean. Of course, she also told us it was carcinogenic and then finished by saying a lot of her contemporary colleagues that went into organic chemistry r…
Chemists used to basically bathe in Benzene back in the day. I’ve heard that they as a group tended to die in their 60’s. Most teaching Chem labs tend to work with small amounts of chemicals today and try to avoid the nasty stuff if possible.
See https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2031509/ which seems to indicate administration is hazardous to your health
Re: Benzene Exposure Alters Endocrine Activity
#99Benzene is everywhere, particularly in trace amounts in otherwise harmless products. Benzene is a building block for the production of many chemicals, including plastics, synthetic fibers, rubber, resins, dyes and pharmaceuticals, and residual amounts may remain in the final products. Benzene is used as a solvent and cleaning agent in printing, paint manufacturing, electronics, etc. Benzene contributes to the overall…
Things i wish i knew before buying a fixer upper car is all the chemicals involved. Just one sniff of the brake cleaner and the rest of the day is gone. Probably some IQ ponis down the drain too. Should've just bought a tesla and be done with it...
A few guys I watch on YouTube repair cars with a mask on when they spray brake cleaner.
Re: Benzene Exposure Alters Endocrine Activity
#100Crazy how people just drive around in cars and fuel up with gasoline that contains like 2% benzene. And we let teenagers do this, with no personal protective equipment and no basic supervision.
To nitpick, at least in the EU regulations limit the benzene content in gasoline to a maximum of 1%. I had a vague recollection the limit was actually slightly stricter in the USA at 0.6%, but maybe my memory fails me.
It’s 0.62% or less for gas.[1]
[1]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7918986/#:~:tex....