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Chemists used to basically bathe in Benzene back in the day. I’ve heard that they as a group tended to die in their 60’s. Most teaching Chem labs tend to work w

by vondur 3y ago

Chemists used to basically bathe in Benzene back in the day. I’ve heard that they as a group tended to die in their 60’s. Most teaching Chem labs tend to work with small amounts of chemicals today and try to avoid the nasty stuff if possible.

PaulHoule 3y ago
See https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2031509/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2031509/ which seems to indicate administration is hazardous to your health
tdeck 3y ago
Speaking of bathing in benzene When I went to Belgium I visited the Red Star Line museum The Red Star Line was a passenger ship company that brought millions of immigrants from Europe to the US in the early 20th century. In order to depart for the US, passengers were required to scrub themswlves down with benzene and let it soak in to kill any potential lice eggs. Also their luggage was autoclaved (yep, with hot stean) and then drenched in disinfectant.
- valianteffort 3y ago
  I believe around the same time the US was spraying migrants crossing the southern border with Zyklon B to deal with lice and typhus.
  - hilbert42 3y ago
    Benzene, C6H6 and Zyklon B (aka HCN) are very different chemicals and I'm not advocating HCN as a delousing agent. The difference is that the body copes with small amounts of HCN very well as small amounts can be naturally found in food whereas C6H6, an aromatic hydrocarbon, isn't. C6H6 does damage in an altogether different way and its effects are cumulative. Incidentally, as I've mentioned in an earlier post I've always been very careful to avoid exposing myself to C6H6, but less so to HCN. I used to use HCN in photographic processing and as I mentioned once before on HN I was affected by its fumes—and I'm still here to mention the fact (but I'm not for a moment suggesting that people be lax when using the stuff).
hilbert42 3y ago
"I’ve heard that they as a group tended to die in their 60’s." Why then was my experience so different back then? We treated benzene and CCl4 with great care, a fume cupboard was esential. See my other post.
- reddit_refugee3 3y ago
  Perhaps "back in the day" means something different to you than it does to the person you're replying to.
  - thsksbd 3y ago
    Presumably the "42" refers to the birth year.
  - hilbert42 3y ago
    The commentary was about the 1960s and that was the time I was referring to.

by vondur 3y ago

PaulHoule 3y ago

See https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2031509/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2031509/ which seems to indicate administration is hazardous to your health

tdeck 3y ago

Speaking of bathing in benzene When I went to Belgium I visited the Red Star Line museum The Red Star Line was a passenger ship company that brought millions of immigrants from Europe to the US in the early 20th century. In order to depart for the US, passengers were required to scrub themswlves down with benzene and let it soak in to kill any potential lice eggs. Also their luggage was autoclaved (yep, with hot stean) and then drenched in disinfectant.

valianteffort 3y ago
I believe around the same time the US was spraying migrants crossing the southern border with Zyklon B to deal with lice and typhus.
- hilbert42 3y ago
  Benzene, C6H6 and Zyklon B (aka HCN) are very different chemicals and I'm not advocating HCN as a delousing agent. The difference is that the body copes with small amounts of HCN very well as small amounts can be naturally found in food whereas C6H6, an aromatic hydrocarbon, isn't. C6H6 does damage in an altogether different way and its effects are cumulative. Incidentally, as I've mentioned in an earlier post I've always been very careful to avoid exposing myself to C6H6, but less so to HCN. I used to use HCN in photographic processing and as I mentioned once before on HN I was affected by its fumes—and I'm still here to mention the fact (but I'm not for a moment suggesting that people be lax when using the stuff).

hilbert42 3y ago

"I’ve heard that they as a group tended to die in their 60’s." Why then was my experience so different back then? We treated benzene and CCl4 with great care, a fume cupboard was esential. See my other post.

reddit_refugee3 3y ago
Perhaps "back in the day" means something different to you than it does to the person you're replying to.
- thsksbd 3y ago
  Presumably the "42" refers to the birth year.
- hilbert42 3y ago
  The commentary was about the 1960s and that was the time I was referring to.