Fumes and nausea

[josharb87]

Do it Stevie!

 

I use aspen 2stroke in saws, and 4 in my lawnmower at home, the price doesn't come into it for me anymore - i think of it as PPE

 

I even know of companies using 4stroke aspen in their Avant tractors

 

FWIW today i paid 60 quid for a 25L can

[Treemoose]

Got aspen in my hedge cutter, back pack blower and 660. Don't mind normal mix in my other saws apart from when I'm cutting stumps low down and the saw fumes hit the ground and blast back in my face. I have had some bad headaches after that and I think to myself I should run all saws on aspen. I have never had a headache after using aspen and that is probably the main reason I use it.

[Stephen Blair]

I know you've probably typed this lots of times, could you tell me in simple terms, what's bad about fuel and mix, what's it doing to our insides and what's in or not in Aspen that helps and doesn't damage us. Cheers:thumbup1:

[Stephen Blair]

Thanks guys.

[felixthelogchopper]

A lighter touch with the Kouros will also help with the nausea. Remember, less is more.

[Stephen Blair]

I had to google that mate! :blushing:I was expecting it to mean throttle, :001_rolleyes:not aftershave:biggrin:

 

My wife bought me aftershave about 13 years ago, it's still half fool:biggrin:

[felixthelogchopper]

I had to google that mate! :blushing:I was expecting it to mean throttle, :001_rolleyes:not aftershave:biggrin:

 

My wife bought me aftershave about 13 years ago, it's still half fool:biggrin:

 

That makes me feel rather old. I nearly said Hai Karate but that is before my time, let alone yours.

[Mark Bolam]

Like you didn't know what Kouros was! You used to drive an Impreza!

 

I bet you even owned a tasseled jacket!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Arbtalk

[felixthelogchopper]

Like you didn't know what Kouros was! You used to drive an Impreza!

 

I bet you even own a tasseled jacket!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Arbtalk

 

Fixed that for you, mate.

[agg221]

I know you've probably typed this lots of times, could you tell me in simple terms, what's bad about fuel and mix, what's it doing to our insides and what's in or not in Aspen that helps and doesn't damage us. Cheers:thumbup1:

 

Many things, as normal pump fuel is a complex mix of over 50 different chemicals, several of which are unpleasant. However, the one I am most interested in is benzene.

 

Benzene is seriously nasty - the following is copied from the US government guidance on benzene but you can find similar from many sources including the World Health Organisation (ie this is based on proper research, not spurious opinion):

 

Immediate signs and symptoms of exposure to benzene

People who breathe in high levels of benzene may develop the following signs and symptoms within minutes to several hours:

Drowsiness

Dizziness

Rapid or irregular heartbeat

Headaches

Tremors

Confusion

Unconsciousness

Death (at very high levels)

Direct exposure of the eyes, skin, or lungs to benzene can cause tissue injury and irritation.

 

Long-term health effects of exposure to benzene

The major effect of benzene from long-term exposure is on the blood. (Long-term exposure means exposure of a year or more.) Benzene causes harmful effects on the bone marrow and can cause a decrease in red blood cells, leading to anemia. It can also cause excessive bleeding and can affect the immune system, increasing the chance for infection.

Some women who breathed high levels of benzene for many months had irregular menstrual periods and a decrease in the size of their ovaries. It is not known whether benzene exposure affects the developing fetus in pregnant women or fertility in men.

Animal studies have shown low birth weights, delayed bone formation, and bone marrow damage when pregnant animals breathed benzene.

The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has determined that benzene causes cancer in humans. Long-term exposure to high levels of benzene in the air can cause leukemia, cancer of the blood-forming organs.

 

Normal pump fuel is approximately 2% benzene. Burned in an efficient car engine this is not too much of a problem - combustion is effectively complete so the emissions are negligible.

 

A 2-stroke engine (whilst having a much better power to weight ratio) is much less efficient, sometimes as low as 66%. The remainder comes out as unburnt fuel, which is about 0.6% benzene. To put that in context, from a 1litre tank you are putting 6ml of benzene into the air. Burn your way through 5l of fuel and that's 30ml. The permissible exposure limit in the US is 0.5 parts per million and the LD50 (rat), which is the dose at which half of rats to which it was administered died, is 1.8g/kg. If it scales, that would make the LD50 for humans in the region of 120ml, although that's for short term exposure rather than the long term insidious effects.

 

Obviously you won't breath all of the fumes in, but it's certainly something to think about.

 

Hope that helps

 

Alec