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From: larry@kitty.UUCP (Larry Lippman)
Newsgroups: sci.bio,sci.chem,sci.med
Subject: Re: Butane death
Summary: Aerosol propellants
Message-ID: <3412@kitty.UUCP>
Date: 27 Sep 89 01:41:37 GMT
References: <4655@cps3xx.UUCP> <9977@multimax.Encore.COM> <22452@cup.portal.com> <16129@vail.ICO.ISC.COM>
Organization: Recognition Research Corp., Clarence, NY
Lines: 42

In article <16129@vail.ICO.ISC.COM>, raydu@ico.ISC.COM (Ray Dueland) writes:
> >Someone recently posted to rec.food.cooking that Pam contains alcohol
> >(ethanol, I presume).  I have not confirmed this for myself, but it sounds
> >plausible.  Snorting Pam?  Move over NyQuil-guzzling...
> 
> Reasonable idea, but it's not easy to become intoxicated by inhaling ethanol.
> 
> I would imagine some type of freon propellant would be responsible for
> the effects.

	The use of chlorinated fluorocarbons (i.e., Freons) as aerosol
propellants has been banned in the United States since 1979.

	90% of all aerosol propellants use isobutane as a propellant,
singly or in some combination with n-butane, propane and/or isopentane.
The average consumer is unaware how truly flammable and hazardous the
propellants in aerosol cans are.  As a good example, take a look at a
can of Gilette Foamy shaving cream; the ingredients clearly include
isobutane, n-butane and propane.  The reason for a mixture of propellants
is to achieve a particular effective vapor pressure not possible with
a single ingredient by itself.

	In any event, the propellant in a can of Pam is isobutane; scary
to be intentionally spraying a mixture of ethanol and corn oil propelled
by isobutane around a stove, huh?  How the makers of Pam can afford the
liability insurance for their product is a mystery to me.

	It would appear that persons inhaling Pam are getting their alleged
high from the isobutane propellant.

	It is also interesting to note that the FDA requires _explicit_
labeling of chemical contents on soap and cosmetic products, which accounts
for the specific propellant ingredient listing in the shaving cream example
above (you don't think Gilette REALLY wants consumers to know that there
is butane and propane in their product, do you?), but many food products
are exempt from the specificity requirement for propellants.  This is why
a can of Pam simply states "propellant" as an ingredient.

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