Hexanitrohexaazaisowurtzitane!

I've mentioned Derek Lowe's amazing writing on obnoxious chemicals before, and his articles have continued while my humble blog was on hiatus.

Take this gem, for instance. I'm not going to bother excerpting this one - read it all. The whole category of things I won't work with is worth a read.

As hilarious as these articles are, he also takes aim more serious subjects, such as a recent post demolishing a Buzzfeed posting on 8 toxic foods. I've run across that kind of crazy before, and some of the claims are so ridiculous that they boggle the mind. For example, claiming bromine being present in a compound somehow gives it the unpleasant properties of the pure element is silly. Next they will be calling table salt (Sodium Chloride) a toxic chemical weapon (Chlorine) that explodes on contact with water (Sodium), or worrying about how water is flammable and explosive, because the H in H₂O is Hydrogen. I should keep this around in case I ever teach chemistry again - listening in chemistry class will prevent you being taken in by people like the Buzzfeed author.

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I'll pass on the chlorine trifluoride

One of the more interesting aspects of safety industry is the tales of danger that you pick up from fellow professionals and experience. I once heard of a response team finding a leaking can of potassium cyanide nearby a growing acid spill. They ran out and got the full self-contained breathing apparatus before going any further.

There are some experiments and chemicals which make that look like a picnic. These include condensing hydrogen cyanide and compounds that explode without much of a reason. And chlorine trifluoride

I have not encountered this fine substance myself, but reading up on its properties immediately gives it a spot on my “no way, no how” list. Let's put it this way: during World War II, the Germans were very interested in using it in self-igniting flamethrowers, but found it too nasty to work with. It is apparently about the most vigorous fluorinating agent known, and is much more difficult to handle than fluorine gas. That’s one of those statements you don’t get to hear very often, and it should be enough to make any sensible chemist turn around smartly and head down the hall in the other direction.

The compound also a stronger oxidizing agent than oxygen itself, which also puts it into rare territory. That means that it can potentially go on to “burn” things that you would normally consider already burnt to hell and gone, and a practical consequence of that is that it’ll start roaring reactions with things like bricks and asbestos tile. It’s been used in the semiconductor industry to clean oxides off of surfaces, at which activity it no doubt excels.

Whoa... (Emphasis mine, taken from here)

You can see more like these here. It is a great little list of nasty substances.

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The Price of a Bag of Popcorn

Microwave popcorn is something quite tasty and a nice snack for home movies. Diacetyl, the flavoring that gives the popcorn its buttery taste is quite safe to eat. Even inhaling the vapors for a short period of time is not hazardous. However, like many chemicals, long term exposure at industrial levels (such as in a popcorn manufacturing plant) can have serious effects on the lungs. The characteristic lung damage has been termed Flavoring Worker's Lung. The Pump Handle, a public health blog, has more on the health hazards of prolonged exposure and the gradual efforts to protect workers from the substance. More on Wikipedia.

Naturally, there have been calls to ban diacetyl, and the matter is under debate. Bans or enforceable standards like an OSHA Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) actually are the best approach from a business perspective, as they level the playing field. This reminds me of a story about how hockey players did not wear helmets intially, despite receiving safety warnings. It wasn't that they didn't believe the warnings, but that they thought the helmets would reduce their fields of vision, thus putting them at a disadvantage. (It may also have had something to do with not wanting to look like a coward) They asked the League to require it for them so that they would all be equally effected. This logic is the ethical basis for nearly all regulatory law - it removes a decision from competitive pressure. Think about taxes: we all know the government needs money to perform its tasks, but it would be hard to get people to pay the money voluntarily. The Angry Toxicologist (who is actually one of the most dispassionate and rational public health bloggers) has more on this, as well as on the devastating effects of diacetyl on the lungs.

Now for a question to any of my readers: are you aware of an alternative to diacetyl? I've read many times that safe alternatives are available, but no actual chemicals are listed.

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Music Induced Hearing Loss

I noticed in the wikipedia article on Ted Nugent in myprevious post that he was nearly deaf in his left ear. Just because something sounds good doesn't mean it can't destroy your hearing. Hearing loss due to high sound levels can involve permanent damage to the nerve endings that respond to sound in the inner ear. This irreversibly distorts sound, especially high sounds around 4000 Hz. This isn't just limited to musician - a night at a concert can leave you with ringing ears and hearing loss. A better choice is to protect yourself.

Some the best hearing protection is also among the cheapest. The humble yellow foam plug is very useful for industrial settings. However, normal hearing protectors distort sounds when used. The problem comes from the acoustics of the outer ear. This article describes the idea. E-A-R, a major hearing protection company, makes a reasonably priced pair of flat attenuation ear plugs. The flat attenuation is like turning down the volume on a stereo - there is very little distortion. If you plan on going to a big concert, you may want to find a pair on the Internet.

Also, for those who are fond of firearms, they have a specially designed hearing protection system made for the military. It is designed to stop impulse noises like gunfire and explosions without compromising the ability to hear ambient sounds. Given how much noise to which someone in a firefight is exposed, I'd say they are a good idea.

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