Toluene is nasty stuff!

[Matt Winterowd]

Dang, I just funked up the house!

I wanted to use a dark wax on a project I'm doing, to kind of collect in the corners 'age' it a bit. Without giving it much thought, I grabbed some Antique Mahogany Briwax at the store and started to apply it. I did notice while I was applying it that it definitely had a stronger odor than Johnson's or Crystal wax, but they don't exactly smell great. I think they both contain mineral spirits as their solvent, and it usually dissipates quite quickly. Not so much with the Briwax. I was in my garage with the door open and I had to stop working with it. Now, two hours later my whole house still reeks and I've got all the doors and windows open! Not going to use that stuff again.

[Larry Edgerton]

Not so great in the house, but an awesome Octane booster. I ran 36 pounds of boost in a race motor running pump gas with 15% tolene. No detonation.

[Gary Herrmann]

Be very careful with that stuff, Matt. You really shouldn't breathe it.

[Dan Hahr]

To quickly and completely air out your house, put a strong shop fan on a chair and blow it out the window. Open a couple of other windows around the house and let it run an hour or so. Just make sure there is no dust stirring outside.

Dan

[Brian Brightwell]

I worked maintenance in a chemical plant {Rohm & Haas}for 22 years. Toluene was the solvent they used in the coatings we made. Years ago it was not unusual to have large spills in some areas, several inches deep on the entire floor. Not good for your health. In the later years they took the spills a lot more seriously.

[Howard Acheson]

Briwax make two types of furniture wax. Their Original is intended for the furniture restoration trade. It's the one made with toluene as its solvent. Its intended use is to clean up old furniture and it does an excellent job at that. But, it will damage an oil based finish that is less than a number of months old. I recommend it not be used on any surface that is less than a year old.

In 2000, Briwax began marketing a wax using mineral spirits for its solvent. It's very similar to any of the other popular paste waxes and comes in all the colors of the Briwax Original.

[Wes Grass]

Breathing it is bad, also getting it on your skin. Absorbs into your bloodstream and never goes away. IOW, you can get to a toxic limit with it, stay away from it for a while, and be dinged by a whiff next time around. Superglue is the same way.

[Dan Hintz]

Breathing it is bad, also getting it on your skin. Absorbs into your bloodstream and never goes away. IOW, you can get to a toxic limit with it, stay away from it for a while, and be dinged by a whiff next time around. Superglue is the same way.
Let's not spread this little gem.

Toluene is only quickly absorbed by the epidermis, but transmission through to the bloodstream is minimal... as far as I'm aware (and could find), there have been zero reports of deleterious effects from toluene exposure via skin contact (other than skin rashes, eczema, etc.). You would have to bathe in the stuff for days before enough soaked into your bloodstream to have any appreciable effect. Breathing in the fumes is far more likely to cause issues.

It does not build up in the bloodstream, either... the liver metabolizes it into hippuric acid over a couple of days. Then it's just a matter of spending some time at the urinal.

[Curt Harms]

Toluene is nasty stuff!

Especially if nitrates is added

Tri Nitrated Toluene :eek:

[Ruhi Arslan]

Although it has been revised at a later date, following from Material Safety Data Sheet:

Potential Health Effects:

Inhalation: Inhalation may cause irritation of the upper respiratory tract. Symptoms of overexposure may include fatigue, confusion, headache, dizziness and drowsiness. Peculiar skin sensations (e. g. pins and needles) or numbness may be produced. Very high concentrations may cause unconsciousness and death.
Ingestion: Swallowing may cause abdominal spasms and other symptoms that parallel over-exposure from inhalation. Aspiration of material into the lungs can cause chemical pneumonitis, which may be fatal.
Skin Contact: Causes irritation. May be absorbed through skin.
Eye Contact: Causes severe eye irritation with redness and pain.
Chronic Exposure: Reports of chronic poisoning describe anemia, decreased blood cell count and bone marrow hypoplasia. Liver and kidney damage may occur. Repeated or prolonged contact has a defatting action, causing drying, redness, dermatitis. Exposure to toluene may affect the developing fetus.
Aggravation of Pre-existing Conditions: Persons with pre-existing skin disorders or impaired liver or kidney function may be more susceptible to the effects of this substance. Alcoholic beverage consumption can enhance the toxic effects of this substance.

Airborne Exposure Limits:

- OSHA Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL): 200 ppm (TWA); 300 ppm (acceptable ceiling conc.); 500 ppm (maximum conc.).
- ACGIH Threshold Limit Value (TLV): 50 ppm (TWA) skin, A4 - Not Classifiable as a Human Carcinogen.

[Matt Winterowd]

According to the CDC, it's not especially lethal except in very high concentrations (apparently it's actually used as a solvent in some nail polishes up to 50% concentration), but it starts to be a nervous system irritant and potential chronic problem at relatively low levels. At any rate, I'm going to do my best to avoid it in the future just because it is incredibly obnoxious. And I will especially avoid mixing it with saltpeter, Curt. :)

[Will Blick]

Wes can you elaborate on what you know about Superglues toxic effects?

[Dan Hintz]

Wes can you elaborate on what you know about Superglues toxic effects?
:confused:

[Will Blick]

Dan, above, Wes wrote this....

> IOW, you can get to a toxic limit with it, stay away from it for a while, and be dinged by a whiff next time around. Superglue is the same way.

I asked him to elaborate about any effects he was aware of regarding SuperGlue....

So what is the confusion?

[Dan Hintz]

Ah, sorry, missed the mention of superglue in there... a reply similar to my last would apply to the superglue. Don't worry about it.

[Larry Fox]

I took a finishing class and the instructor gave some (what I thought) pretty good advise - stay away from any chemical ending in 'ene.

[Wes Grass]

Dan obviously knows more about it than I do. Most of my info comes from old sources ... like the encyclopedias we had when I was a kid that stated nuclear fallout wasn't considered a health risk ;-)

Toluene was an issue when I was racing motorcycles, and perhaps the cautions against it were based on a better safe than sorry attitude and it's toxicity/long term effects when 'abused', which is understandable since most of us dumbaxx motorcycle racers thought nothing of using our stale fuel for washing parts without wearing gloves or using a respirator. Pretty sure I already had the tremors in my right hand before getting into that, but you never know ...

The crazy glue caution comes from warnings in model airplane magazines, and the possibility of some people becoming hypersensitized to it. I believe one of my father's friends had exactly this happen. What exactly his symptoms were I don't recall, but it was a case of immediate bad reactions to it after staying away from it for a couple years. And this could be from the smoke generated by using it on powdered fillers rather than the vapors themselves.

[Will Blick]

I do worry about Superglue.... gives me headaches... then again, so does all the chemicals that end in "ene",

never sure what filter can combat cyano glues....

[David Cefai]

While I agree that a lot of solvents - possibly all solvents - are nasty, it seems to me that the dangers are being overhyped. If the MSDS are literally accurate I should not have survived to graduate my B.Sc, let alone the Master's 2 years later. 36 years later I'm still going strong! (Heart problem doesn't count!)

I see undergraduate students in labs wearing safety goggles, gloves and dust filters and I am convinced that the reason is lawyer-phobia and not truly health.

[Dan Hintz]

perhaps the cautions against it were based on a better safe than sorry attitude and it's toxicity/long term effects when 'abused'
Nothing wrong with that attitude... as long as it doesn't turn into a doomsday attitude.

[Larry Edgerton]

If the government warns us about it I pay absolutely no attention.

They are killing my restoration business with all their stupid EPA regs. They tend to blow everthing out of proportion just like the media. If I am worried about something I do my own research and come to my own conclusions.

Eggs are good, no eggs are bad, no wait, maybe they are OK, until next month............

[Will Blick]

Its human nature to see the world through our own eyes. If a glue doesn't bother one person, they feel it should not bother anyone. Some people have been sniffing a glue for 40 years and still going strong. Some life-long smokers, continue to smoke cigarettes into their late 90's, they feel cigarette warnings are over-hyped. Yet others die of smoking related causes at age 40.

I know of many people who have had their lives destroyed by inhaling chemical fumes from glues in factories at very young ages, 30's. Everyone must listen to their own bodies, vs. reading a thread. Many chemicals odors make me sick, it really annoys me, I try like heck to avoid them, but often its hard to avoid them 100% when working with wood... glues, finishes, cleaners, etc.