#Volitile Organic Compounds

[mindblowingscience]

Our quest for shiny, frizz-free hair using oils, gels, and sprays may come with a hidden health cost: releasing potentially harmful compounds, especially when paired with heat styling tools. Researchers in the US studied volatile organic compounds (VOCs), like siloxanes, emitted during various home hairstyling routines. Not only can certain hair care contribute to inhalation of VOCs inside homes, their analysis suggests it can also impact outdoor air quality through ventilation systems. While we don't know the full extent of the health impacts of inhaling these chemicals, it's unlikely they're doing us good. "We found the results to be extremely alarming," says civil engineer Nusrat Jung from Purdue University. "We did not expect to see such significant emissions of volatile chemical mixtures from off-the-shelf hair care products during typical hair care routines that many people perform each and every day."

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[delgado-master]

Drunken Chemistry Lesson: Acid Safety and 10 Cloverfield Lane.

I’m drunk on Vodka Lemonades (low alcohol tolerance due to meds) and just watched 10 Cloverfield Lane, and in the film, a creepy dude threatens the protagonists with a barrel of Percloric Acid, and throws scissors and duct tape into the barrel, which dissolve and bubble. Said liquid is used to dissolve a body, and is spilled by the surviving protagonist. It is spilled on said creepy dude and the floor, and dissolves the carpet. It catches fire when it reaches an electrical cord. The building later explodes.

So what is percloric acid?

Percloric Acid, or HClO ₄ (HClO4), is an acid stronger than sulfuric and nitric acid. It’s an oxidizer (can make things burn without oxygen), it’s explosively reactive, and a strong corrosive (can dissolve things). Basically, it’s dangerous shit. Unless it’s really strong (>70%), it just acts as a strong acid at room temperature, however. What this means is if you heat it up, it will react violently with chemicals.

What did the film get right?

Percloric Acid is corrosive, so it probably would dissolve a human body. Also, it is used as a precursor to rocket fuel.

What did the film get wrong

First off, it’s nonflammable. In the film, it showed it on fire like gasoline. It just wouldn’t do that. From what I understand of the properties of it, rather than making a scary flame for the protagonist, It would’ve exploded violently with the combination of numerous organic compounds (the greatest contributor being the carpet) and the heat from a shorting cable. A similar reaction caused deaths and injuries in real life.

Second, dissolving things like bodies would be an exothermic reaction (releasing heat), and bodies are just a bunch of organic compounds. Dissolving something as large as a human in percloric acid would probably make a very volitile mixture. Also, I’m pretty sure he cut up the body and put the pieces in plastic containers. Strong percloric acid dissolves plastic, so that acid would just be on the floor.)

Thirdly, he’s using percloric acid in a bunker, which is pretty much guaranteed to have limited circulation. You’re supposed to only react this stuff in a fume hood, which means it gives off fumes that you wouldn’t want to be breathing in. You would not want to have any significant reaction that gives off fumes in a bunker. (Life hack, don’t use bleach in your toilets in your post apocalyptic bunker either)

Fourth, he dropped scissors (metal and plastic would react) and duct tape (plastic again) in a barrel with no face protection. That’s a major splash risk, and you’d want a face shield anyway when working with that stuff.

Finally, even if you’re ex-military and worked with NASA like Mr. creepy guy, you wouldn’t be able to get barrels of it to store in your home. They closely monitor this shit because it can be used to make explosives, and it can explode on its own.

Sources: Wikipedia plus my own knowledge of basic chemistry and chemical safety

[yourladyindank]

PSA before I lose my mind

Animals need medication and vet visits. Essential oils are DANGEROUS. It can BURN them. It won’t cure a damn thing. It really won’t. It will KILL birds and reptiles. I’m talking just essential oil diffusers can harm birds and reptiles. Essential oils are HIGHLY VOLITILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS. Keep that shit away from them!

I have used essential oils in ONE (1) instance, and that was for a show rabbit with anxiety. One DROP of essential oil in like, a pint of olive oil, and you smudge a bit on the ears and it helped with anxiety because THAT PARTICULAR RABBIT liked THAT PARTICULAR SMELL because he was A FREAK. His name was Blue Eyes White Dragon. We called him Blue.

[brandongoji]

Am I the only one that notices how bad the new car smell is? Oh and new tires! Ugh it's horrible. Especially when you have a clean mainly fruit diet. Everything smells 10x more. Talk about volitile organic compounds! (VOCs). That's the kidney damaging, lymph congesting, cancer causing toxins! #newcar #cars #newcarsmell #stinky #healthtipoftheday #dailyhealthtips #healthtips #brandongoji #herbalist #herbs #herbalism #foodie #naturalhealthtips #fitness #exercise #youtuber #holistichealth #healthcoach #onlinehealthcoach #vegan #vegetarian #fruitarian #nutritionist #nutritiontips #nutrition #naturalhealth #michigan

[tmidragon]

yesterday I learned that fats count as a pollutant and will come up as a volitile organic compound  when picked up by the Dyson fan’s filter