How to kill yourself with brake cleaner

**The Stranger:Me** · 2nd August 2009, 23:12

Originally Posted by klingon

This is the bit that gets me... you almost called an ambo? And the guy in the linked story had all kinds of neurological and other symptoms for days and days before he got checked out?!

Crikey, if I was suffering even one of those symptoms I would be off to the doctor quick as I could. I think that might be the real lesson here!

It's a male thing. If you're still conscious it can't be too bad - unless you have man flu that is.

It's like the bends. The decompression chamber gets busiest on a Monday. All the numb nuts (yours truly) who get bent on a Saturday refuse to accept it until they have a splitting head ache, can't walk and are puking on Monday - even though you know you fucked up when you have to sleep in the foetal position on Saturday night. It'll go away - given time, harden up.

Or you have a wall fall on you at work breaking a bone in your back. I would have killed anyone that call an ambo - well if I could have moved I would have. It's ok, I can still feel my toes - it's not that bad - is it? No fuss.

**p.dath** · 2nd August 2009, 23:17

Originally Posted by The Stranger

Fark, pretty freaky. Yesterday I had to mig weld in an engine bay covered in oil. Cleaned it up with brake cleaner first. Being it was an engine bay I ensured it was thoroughly free of brake cleaner before proceeding, fark you never know what could have been eh?

You were probably lucky. They said the concentration only needs to be 4 parts per million to be dangerous.
Sounds like mixing break cleaner and heat is just too dangerous to risk.

**YellowDog** · 3rd August 2009, 05:51

This thread has prompted me to alert someone who is just about to weld his cracked sump.

Most safety warnings are common sense bollox.

This one may well be a real lifesaver.

**vifferman** · 3rd August 2009, 09:18

Originally Posted by AllanB

Good post.

Super glue is another bad one if used to temporarily hold metal together while welding. Lots of smoke from a small drop and it contains arsenic in it.

Close, but not quite.
Superglue is cyano-acrylate, so it contains a cyanide compound.

It's a wonder I'm still alive. In the early '80s I was doing some lab work separating sediments into heavy and light minerals using tetrabromoethane, which we then washed with acetone and dried on filter paper in cabinet dryers vented into the lab. Lovely sweet smell - very pleasant. Then they found out that seven geologists somewhere else had died from doing the same thing, so they shifted the dryers to another lab, and vented them into fume cupboards. A bit late then, after we'd been doing the work for weeks.

The tetrabromoethane is a very heavy liquid, so when ingested or inhaled, it accumulates in the tissues of the body, especially your organs and brain. If the toxic fumes don't kill you, you could end up with nervous system failure or die of liver failure or cancer.
Yay.

Not as lethal as phosgene, I guess, but still not the best.

**Danae** · 3rd August 2009, 09:29

inhale a bit of random smoke, have a seizure and instead of going to hospital he browses google and leaves it at that, even after the "delayed effects" warning...

**Pedrostt500** · 3rd August 2009, 20:43

The advice to any one gas cutting or welding anything Galvanised, is to drink lots of milk, and keep ya head out of the smoke as much as possible, wear a fume mask if you have one.

**klingon** · 5th August 2009, 16:08

Originally Posted by vifferman

... Then they found out that seven geologists somewhere else had died from doing the same thing...

Meh. Who would miss seven geologists anyway? Dime-a-dozen...

**The Pastor** · 5th August 2009, 17:09

Originally Posted by Pedrostt500

Yes they are there for a reason but how offten are they over looked, and offten the chemical compistions for some products you need to have a dotorate of chemistery to understand, as Argon is the comon inert gas or part make up of gasses used, when TIG or MIG welding, knowing that adding heat and Argon to common break cleaner, would make a leathal cocktail of gasses, is not some thing the average person would know.

but it is something a welder should know.

**The Pastor** · 5th August 2009, 17:10

but yeah nine days he toughed it out after having a seziure etc, what a man.

**cs363** · 5th August 2009, 17:32

Originally Posted by renegade master

but it is something a welder should know.

Something a welder should know for sure, but welding equipment is so cheap now that many a home handy man has a welder in his shed, so it's good to get this info out there.

**RantyDave** · 5th August 2009, 17:55

Originally Posted by Naki Rat

How about we start reimposing common sense and self responsibility?

Common sense? Is it really common to know that brake cleaner decomposes into phosgene in the presence of loads and loads of ultra violet? That (according to Mr Ixion and I believe him) pretty much any organowhatsithingy can go completely fucking Wilfred Owen on you without so much as a moment's notice because I had no idea.

Next you'll be telling me my stockpile of smoke detectors is a nuclear hazard. Sheesh!

Dave

**imdying** · 6th August 2009, 08:29

Originally Posted by Brian d'marge

you wonder why a few more haven't been poisoned

I suspect the brake cleaners we have here don't contain those chemicals.

Originally Posted by Motu

About 20 years ago we got warnings about brake cyl cups - if you burn then it turns into some sort of acid that never stops....goes right through to the bone and keeps going....

Yeah, calcium gluconate injections are the only way to stop it, it's nasty shite.

Originally Posted by lb99

while soldering something (a new pipe maybe

) using the electric stove as a heat source, I spilled some Duzzel on the element, and copped a lung full of smoke from it.
I thought it was all over that day, instantly puked my guts and collapsed on the floor, whole body seemed dead, I felt soo sick for a few minutes, almost called an ambo....

Wusss! Duzzal smells lovely

Originally Posted by Ixion

Any organochloride (chloroform, dry cleaning fluid, brake cleaner) will react in the presence of heat and oxygen to produce some amount of phosgene , COCl2. The reaction will be accelrated by ultra violet radiation (profusely produced by an arc welder, it's what gives you arc eye).

Phosgene's nasty stuff. As in , dead. Best not to go there .

Chlorine gas isn't it?

**Madmax** · 6th August 2009, 08:58

I worked as a specialist welder for a while
had an air supply hose fail while welding 6inch plate
on a automatic multy mig system using co2
co2 when welding gives of carbon monoxide and ozone
did no know until my head felt like it was splitting apart
ozone is worse than monoxide
decompression chamber for me!
methanol is not to shit hot for you ether

**Ixion** · 6th August 2009, 09:49

Originally Posted by imdying

Chlorine gas isn't it?

Chemically, chlorine PLUS carbon monoxide! Both very very nasty, but the combination is nastier than either.

The Duzall example is 'just' chlorine, why it's not so serious.