Next message: GQuarters: "Re: lv-ab: East Coast...West Coast..whatever"
On Tue, 17 Jul 2001 07:47:59 -0400, you wrote:
>What fuels can be used in non pressure alcohol stoves? I have used paint store alcohol, can I use 91% drug store alcohol, 99% isopropyl dry gas or 80% methanol dry gas? Does anything cook faster? The paint store alcohol contained MEK, is that good to breathe?
MEK (methyl ethyl ketone or 2-Butanone) is sometimes used to denature
alcohol (you denature it so that it can't be used as a drink, at least not
safely. Sometime methyl alcohol is also used, which causes blindness if
ingested. That's what the old winos would drink - Sterno was mostly methyl
I think.). The exposure limit is about 200 ppm. It irritates the eyes,
skin, nose and causes dermatitis, headache and dizziness. Target organs,
eyes, skin, respiratory system and CNS (central nervous system). I'm not
sure that it is a carcinogen. It is flammable however.
Toluene - exposure limit about 100-200 ppm (depending on whose standard you
use). This does cause liver, bladder and mammary gland tumors in animals.
Also irritates the eyes and nose and is a class 1B flammable liquid (like
gasoline and MEK)
Xylene is another solvent which is a 1C flammable (less flammable than
gasoline), but has severe health effects - on the CNS, GI tract, blood,
liver, and kidneys. A class 1A liquid is stuff like ether BTW. Class 1B
is all you ever see in normal life.
I think the carcinogen which recently had the limits lowered was methylene
chloride which is less flammable, but can cause asphyxiation in an enclosed
area.
Trichlorethylene is another solvent which burns with difficulty (so is
sometimes recommended as a substitute for acetone which burns well but has
few adverse health effects), but is a carcinogen.
grandma Rosalie
___________________________________________________________________________
|| The Live-Aboard List : send a "subscribe" or "unsubscribe" request ||
|| in body of message to: ||
