[filmscanners] RE: Canned air...

["Frank Paris" <frankparis@comcast.net>]

> > You should be able to obtain more information on
> difluoroethane from
> > the writing on the can. This is what is on mine: "Do not
> deliberately
> > concentrate and/or inhale this product. You could instantly die,
> > suffer brain damage, or other dangerous and permanent
> health effects."
> > But I've been "using as directed," and I'm still alive and kicking.
>
> Wow!  Thanks Frank.  My can does not say that...it has a FAR
> more toned down warning, and little pictures of in ear, in
> mouth and upside down, all with squares with a diagonal bar
> through them.  Think I'll stay away from canned air with THAT in it.
>
> Gee, good for the ozone, but sounds like REALLY bad for me.
> Nice compromise.

Here's a couple more datapoints, which I looked up in my "Hawley's
Condensed Chemical Dictionary". Hopefully this additional information
will set your mind at ease. Its specific gravity is 1.004, so virtually
the same as air, which means it won't settle to the ground and as long
as your room is ventilated nothing untoward will happen. By itself it is
not expecially toxic. In concentrated form it has a narcotic effect. The
main danger is that it is extremely flammable and its products of
combustion are deadly, so don't try to light a match to it as it comes
out of the tube. I'm guessing one of the products of combustion is
hydrogen fluoride, since it is made from hydrogen fluoride and
acetylene. The former is deadly poisonous and is so corrosive it can
dissove glass. The latter is explosively flammable. Still, I am not
worried and will continue to use it. The "instant death" is probably
caused by the freezing of the lung passages if you snort it right out of
the tube, something I'm not particularly tempted to do. So don't be
alarmed. The stuff is perfectly safe when used as directed and you'd
really have to be a bozo to receive any harm from it, comparable to
soaking your house with gasoline and setting a match to it. If there's
no danger of your doing something like that, there's no danger of your
using this particular form of "canned air."

Frank Paris
frankparis@comcast.net





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