Benzene versus Paraffin

[Chris Wright]

>
> To all torch experts:
> I use benzene extensively, preferring it over paraffin as it is
> far cleaner and I do a lot of fire work indoors. Is benzene unhealthy?
> I would welcome any advice on this issue.
> Many thanks, Paul Nailand 047...@witsvma.wits.ac.za
>

Isn't benzene quite poisonous? I would be careful if I were you.

[DAHMER]

In article <16F83C19...@Witsvma.wits.ac.za>, 047...@Witsvma.wits.ac.za writes...

>To all torch experts:
>I use benzene extensively, preferring it over paraffin as it is
>far cleaner and I do a lot of fire work indoors. Is benzene unhealthy?
>I would welcome any advice on this issue.
>Many thanks, Paul Nailand 047...@witsvma.wits.ac.za

I don't know about using benzene. What I have always used is Coleman's
Fuel. It is cheap and burns fine. I've had my fire clubs for years now
and they look as good as new.

Jeff McKinney SUNY Geneseo ja...@uno.cc.geneseo.edu

[Andy Lewis]

In article <16F83C19...@Witsvma.wits.ac.za> 047...@Witsvma.wits.ac.za writes:
>To all torch experts:
>I use benzene extensively, preferring it over paraffin as it is
>far cleaner and I do a lot of fire work indoors. Is benzene unhealthy?
>I would welcome any advice on this issue.

I could be wrong, *but*

As far as I know, benzene is a strong carcinogen. Nasty stuff.
I'll ask some of my chemist friends, but I'd recommend that you don't use it.

Andy

--
Andy Lewis (a...@ecs.soton.ac.uk) |
Department of Electronics | Please do not feed the juggler
and Computer Science |
University of Southampton | Confucius, he say "Hi"

[047...@witsvma.wits.ac.za]

To all torch experts:
I use benzene extensively, preferring it over paraffin as it is
far cleaner and I do a lot of fire work indoors. Is benzene unhealthy?
I would welcome any advice on this issue.

[Mark Tillotson]

There is probably another fuel-naming misunderstanding going on here:

The original poster (I can't find the post) almost certainly means
`benzine' rather than `benzene', ie. the German word for petrol/gasoline...

Benzene (C6H6) is indeed very highly toxic, but burns with an
_very_ smokey flame (excess of carbon!)---it would not burn
"far cleaner" than paraffin for instance!!... Petrol can be fairly
toxic, because of all the additives, but the main danger is its
volatility...

======================================================
|\ /| | , M. Tillotson Harlequin Ltd. \
| \/ | /\| |/\ |< ma...@harlqn.co.uk Barrington Hall,\
| | \_| | | \ +44 223 873829 Barrington, \
I came, I saw, I core-dumped... Cambridge CB2 5RG \

[Oliver Crow]

In article <MARKT.94M...@jung.harlqn.co.uk>,

Mark Tillotson <ma...@harlqn.co.uk> wrote:
>There is probably another fuel-naming misunderstanding going on here:
>
>>To all torch experts:
>>I use benzene extensively, preferring it over paraffin as it is
>>far cleaner and I do a lot of fire work indoors. Is benzene unhealthy?
>

>The original poster (I can't find the post) almost certainly means
>`benzine' rather than `benzene', ie. the German word for petrol/gasoline...

>"far cleaner" than paraffin for instance!!... Petrol can be fairly

>toxic, because of all the additives, but the main danger is its
>volatility...

It might also be worth mentioning the danger of the temperature at
which it burns, being much higher than parafin / BBQ lighter fuel.
Whilst I have found it possible to catch the lit end of a fire
torch burning lighter fuel or parafin (as long as you immediately
drop it) without being burned, I believe the same would not be
true of burning petrol/gasoline.

Does anyone know the American name for parafin? "Parafin" in the US
seems to mean wax.

Oliver

[zak...@genie.geis.com]

Oliver, I think that "paraffin" is very much like what we call
"kerosene."


Scotty

.sig not mentioning that jets run on kerosene variants....

[Steve Salberg , Doc]

oc...@zonker.cs.berkeley.edu (Oliver Crow) sez:

>Does anyone know the American name for parafin? "Parafin" in the US
>seems to mean wax.
>
>Oliver

Yes, in AmerEnglish Parafin means wax, and that should give you some idea
of the faces we folks "across the pond" make when we imagine y'all
dipping your torches into vats of liquified wax!

I think I heard/read somewhere that our version of parafin is
Kerosine or White Gas (McD?). Coleman fuel is definitely the fuel
of choice here in the states. It is readily available at camping and
hardware stores and doesn't smoke much, lights easily, has charming nose
and great legs...

Steve (avoiding Waxy Buildup) Salberg
.sig checking out the Coleman container looking for its knees...

[Brian D Milner]

SAL...@main.morris.org writes:
>Coleman fuel is definitely the fuel
>of choice here in the states. It is readily available at camping and
>hardware stores and doesn't smoke much, lights easily, has charming nose
>and great legs...

I'd like to try Coleman fuel here in the UK. Can you think what it might
be called over here? What's it made from?

--
====Brian Milner, The Computer Centre, Brunel University, West London, UK====
=The collective noun for a group of jugglers: "a neverthriving of jugglers" =
=========WWW Home page - http://http1.brunel.ac.uk:8080/~ccusbdm/ ===========
==GJ d?(---) -p+ c++++(++) l@ u(+) e+@ m*/+ s n+(-) h--/- f- !g w+ t+ r y+ =

[Alastair Rae]

Brian D Milner (Brian....@brunel.ac.uk) wrote:
> ...
> I'd like to try Coleman fuel here in the UK. Can you think what it might
> be called over here? What's it made from?

Believe it or not, it's called "Coleman fuel", available from camping
shops. I have some which I use for a camping stove. But isn't it
just unleaded petrol (gasoline)?

--
Alastair Rae <ar...@uk.mdis.com>
Phone (+44)(0)442-272267 (voice) -234443 (fax)
GCS/O d++(-) p-- c++ l u++ e(+) m++ s+/- n+ h-- f- g@ w+ t+ r y+(*)
The opinions expressed here are probably not those of my employers

[Dave Budd]

In article <CnH77...@mdis.co.uk> a...@mx1.mdis.co.uk (Alastair Rae) writes:

>Brian D Milner (Brian....@brunel.ac.uk) wrote:
>> ...
>> I'd like to try Coleman fuel here in the UK. Can you think what it might
>> be called over here? What's it made from?

>Believe it or not, it's called "Coleman fuel", available from camping
>shops. I have some which I use for a camping stove. But isn't it
>just unleaded petrol (gasoline)?

If it was, I think we'd have heard a lot more stories about US jugglers
visiting hospital burns units.

[Alan Morgan]

In article <16F89806...@Witsvma.wits.ac.za>
084...@Witsvma.wits.ac.za writes:

>OK, so before I buy a unicycle perhaps some-one can tell me of the
>side effects of ethyl alcohol

Pink elephants and increased libido.

Alan
----
.sig chasing the elephants away

[zak...@genie.geis.com]

Coleman Fuel is not gasoline, or at least not the same stuff you put
in your car. I'm not sure exactly what it is instead...certainly
nothing I've ever put in an airplane! :)


Scotty

.sig waiting for decent VFR weather...

[Paul Selwood]

Brian D Milner (Brian....@brunel.ac.uk) wrote:

: I'd like to try Coleman fuel here in the UK. Can you think what it might

: be called over here? What's it made from?

I think you'll find it in good camping stores (eg Taunton Leisure and
other specialist outdoor shops. Not so sure about Millets &c) under the
same name. Coleman make portable stoves and lamps as well and the fuel they
recommend is Coleman fuel surprisingly enough!
--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Paul Selwood
Paul.S...@bristol.ac.uk -OR- na.se...@na-net.ornl.gov

[Nathan Hoover]

I've used Coleman fuel for years for my camp stove. It is similar to unleaded
petrol, but burns cleaner. Years ago, we used unleaded petrol for camp stoves,
and it works, but leaves black residue. Coleman fuel costs 3 or 4 times as
much, but works better. I'm not surprised you can find it in England -
I even found it at a sporting goods store in Hokkaido, Japan (although
since it was $40 per US gallon, we burned exclusively a type of unleaded
petrol from the gas station while in Japan.)

It seems to me if you want a visible hot-burning fuel for your torches, Coleman's
would be great - but be careful, it's much more volatile than kerosine.

--
Nathan Hoover nat...@hal.com 408-379-7000x1331 Campbell, CA, USA
<A href="http://www.hal.com/~nathan/">Click here to see my home page.</A>

[084...@witsvma.wits.ac.za]

OK, so before I buy a unicycle perhaps some-one can tell me of the
side effects of ethyl alcohol

>

>047...@Witsvma.wits.ac.za wrote:
>: To all torch experts:
>
>...
>
>Yes, as a chemical engineer, I can verify that the various warnings
>against the use of benzene are very correct. It is a poison and a known
>human carcinogen. (There are only a handful of those!)
>
>Paraffin, kerosene, charcoal starter, mineral spirits, and most any
>of that family, while, as was mentioned, should not be taken lightly,
>are not even close to benzene. If you are using these in a large
>area with fairly good ventilation, you should not experience any long
>term effect, at least not any more than eating in a smoky restaurant
>or standing around near an interstate highway. Prolonged or repeated
>exposure to high doses (i.e. washing your hands in it, or sniffing/smelling
>directly from the bottle) could lead to some type of more severe skin
>irritation or dermatitis, and possibly some target organ effects after
>many years of such exposure. And a general rule: the more volatile the stuff,
>the more you will be inhaling and getting in your eyes and nose, so the
>more likely you will suffer some effects.
>
>Hope this discussion of chemicals doesn't put anyone off torch juggling...
>j