We had a chiller that used Methanol to get down to very low temperatures. When our Health & Safety folks found out that we had it they set down some very strict rules when handling the Methanol or just an open container in the room. We always had to be wearing a respirator, face shield, long sleeve gloves and a rubber apron. On the event of a spill over a few ounces the lab must be cleared immediately and security called. The reason that it causes blindness is it attacks and destroys the optic nerve. I seem to remember this process taking some time and I think they said it was one of those chemicals that your body has trouble getting rid of, i.e. it tends to build up over time to get to the strength required to do the damage. This was of course for absorption and inhalation not ingestion that will make you quite ill right away. The other nasty thing about using any alcohol as a fuel is that if you happen to have a fire, the flames are very hard to see. It was enough to scare our management. We got rid of the Methanol and went to Fluorinert instead. Way more expensive but much safer.
Barry I'm not certain, but methanol as a fuel would probably be nearly pure, and ingesting even a few ml could be enough to cause serious problems such as blindness. I don't think drinking a few ml of diesel fuel would be good for you, but probably would not cause you any long term problems either. Also methanol can be absorbed in toxic amounts through the skin, a problem for anyone who is used to using fuel as a general purpose cleaning fluid. Allan _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
