Toxic effects of burning liquid paraffin

I hear that cooking over a wood fire is almost equivalent to smoking 20 cigarettes at once.....

At an early stage in its development British Rail Inter-city 125 trains had the air-con intake right next to the brake vents and on braking the carriages filled with the nauseating smell of burning polyester resin (and asbestos particles?).

I've never understood the penchant for jogging alongside major roads, breathing that monoxide, pumping in the lead (substitute)

Let's face it, life is a terminal condition.

 

XGK ON HORSE LAXATIVE..... SHOCK,HORROR!

well the 111t would not burn it
i tried priming with meths then coleman but nothing, it is an "old school" stove afterall

i had limited success with the xgk but it burns rich with lots of yellow flame

i currently have the gasoline/kero jet in the xgk so i will try it again later with the X jet which is intended for diesel

it should be getting dark by then so i will try and post a picture of the flame pattern

one good thing is the absence of any kerosene smell

 

Reviving the original question:

Well here is a very interesting scientific review article that I stumbled upon:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3664014/

Overall the key conclusions for steering clear of potential problems seem to be:

1. stay clear of 'wickies' ()

2. don't persevere with worn pressure stove jets and yellow flame tips - just change the jet for a new one - skinflints beware

3. ensure good ventilation

 

During my national service year I slept for 120 nights in a tent heated by a couple of Optimus 111 fueled by the Norwegian armed forces main fuel, F-34, which is suposed to be the same as JP8....the sort of parafine jet planes and the armys tanks where fueled with. We only left the tent for guard duty, taking a piss, or when some crazy rupert decided to leave the tents for an adventure out in the arctic weather weather on skis, and wanted some soldiers to hold his hand...

Anyway the main concern was immediate death by carbon monoxide poisoning, so one soldier had to be a wake, sitting dressed watching over the stove, with a knife or bayent ready to slash open the tent in case of fire...the penalty for falling asleep was severe (guard duty by the .50 cal in minus 30* celcius is no joke)

Never heard of any other danger with it.

 

My main concern when burning kerosene are the aromatics (aromatic hydrocarbons). Yes, there are other concerns such as particles and carbon monoxide but the main issue is the aromatics. It's a family of ring-shaped (hexagon-shaped) hydrocarbons that got the name from the smell, like perfume type of smell. Examples are benzene and toluene (the hexagon ring is also called benzene ring for this reason). They are basically what you smell when you fill gas in your car. Aromatic hydrocarbons are cancerogenous but there are other health concerns as well.

What I have been able to gather is that traditional refined (destilled) kerosene didn't contain much aromatics. This should still be true for jet fuel. Consumer products however are largely made from cracked fractions, i.e. one portion is refined crude (the good stuff), one portion is made by cracking and then refining the fractions that were left over from the first refining. That process creates a lot of aromatics. The products are marketed with this in mind, but often subtly. You will note that liquids that are marketed as stove fuel are marked "low aromatic" somewhere on the label, sometimes a figure is given i.e. <0.2%. Other products such as grill starter fluid, degreaser, or kerosene for cleaning may or may not have that "low aromatic" text, and may have texts such as "only for outdoor use" or "only for use in well ventilated areas". You often have to download the data sheet to find out more exact info about the aromatics content.

The aromatics will burn as well as the kerosene so provided your stove doesn't leak and has the correct mixture there shouldn't be much aromatics emitted. But we all know that at any time a gasket or valve can start to leak and it may take a while for you to notice. Combustion will also never be perfect, a fraction will leave the flame unburnt. A fraction of that fraction will be aromatics.

 

Some wickies burn as well as a pressure stove but most dont Even then they need a lot of maintenance to achieve this

 

Compared to the chemicals I have worked with over the years, any aromatics are a minor problem. Liquid benzine, bromine used for washing hand and benches down. It goes on.
I like wick stoves. Sure I keep the wicks trimmed but I am more concerned about the nasties coming out of car exhausts etc.
I thin it is good practice to make sure your stove is working at max efficiency, but also not to worry about every pos thing that might kill you.
Half the food we eat these days is not good for you.
Alan

 

When working on my first car it was normal practice to use a hose pipe to get a little petrol from the tank to wash your hands with. Occasional mouthfulls just reminded you to be more careful next time. It was early 80s and petrol still had lead in it. Maybe thats why it took more than one mouthfull to get the message not to drink

 

Like that in the 70's.

 

5

 

The risks involved with combustion processes in an enclosed space is important to be remembered about.This thread also touches the health risk involved with the actual handling of the liquid fuel itself. One would expect that these hazards are clearly listed on the container. Not so much the danger caused by the liquids volatility introducing danger of solvant-induced damages. My fatherinlaw now lives the result of this after a lifetime dealing with such in an engine workshop.

In the CCS setting the dangers may be considered combustion and fire-hazard related.

Understanding and dealing with fire hazard requires a good common sense combined with an understanding of the properties of the fuel in hand, and - ditto understanding of the stoves mechanics.

As for carbon monoxide CO, the short version is that the build up of such is a consequence of incomplete combustion. Various stoves is more or less efficient, the thumb rule being that a stove should not create yellow flames . A blue flame tells you there are sufficiet oxygen and heat to complete the combustion. Out in the open this does not represent risk unless you activly inhales the fumes.

In a cabin or tent however the dangers are wery real The combustion requires oxygen, as do we. If we seal the space, any stove will drain the oxygen and emit and build up carbon dioxide CO2. The lack of oxygen might make you dizzy and tired and even cause a faint. In theory this alone could kill you.

Now the stove is a victim of its own, breathing the same chemistry as you. With lack of oxygen the combustion wil be innefficient and carbon monoxide CO emmisions occour. CO unables the blood to absorb whats left of the oxygen. It takes hours for the body to get this back in balance even with a pure ozygen supply.

An effective combustion also requires high temperature. Placing any pot onto the stove will affect this, both due to the mass of the pot and its content, but also interfering with the airflow and space requred. Thus, even with sufficient oxygen levels CO is a relevant risk for you to leave this life.

General CO advice:
- Make sure you know what you are doing
- Look out for yellow flames
- Keep space well ventilated, cooking may be done outside and a non-panned stove for heating inside.

https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/how-do-you-handle-the-risk-of-carbon-monoxide-poisoning.34246/

 

I almost never use a stove inside a tent or a camper. Only in the nastiest weather conditions do I do that, and I'm super-cautious when I do. Stove makers all say to never do that, of course, but I remember it being done by the adults in nasty weather on Boy Scout campouts. Always sure to have some (and typically lots) of ventilation when I do. Even at home I always have the range hood fan going if there's a burner on anything but the lowest simmer setting.

I occasionally use a propane catalytic heater (Coleman BlackCat, not a classic, selected after research indicated it was at the time about the cleanest burning such heater on the market*) in my truck camper shell. When I do, it's on the tailgate, with the rear wide-open, aiming its radiant heat inside. Maybe a tad paranoid, but I just don't like the idea of subjecting myself to concentrated exhaust fumes. That arrangement actually warms the camper shell up quite well, even on the heater's low setting.

Typically I need only about an hour or so in a warm space to "reset" and stop feeling so under the assault by the cold during cold-weather campouts, so the heater sees only occasional use. But it's very nice to have for those times when I want it; turns an unpleasant ordeal in the cold into just another campout.

* That said, the Coleman 519 heaters do look very cute and if I ever get lucky and see one in a thrift shop selling for a good price it will be hard to pass up.

 

In the house and in the caravan we cook by gas. So if they are classed as safe...
Then so long as the stove is working properly. Whats the dif?