Was at a meeting the other day and was told that Halon extinguishers were being removed from the institution because Halon was deemed carcinogenic.

Is this true?

What about all the Halon extinguishers out there?

 

Remember the old Joe Jackson song: "Everything Gives You Cancer"

Who cares about the carcinogens? If you're in a sealed room and the Halon goes off...it sucks up all the oxygen! You die of asphyxiation!!!

 

sure and getting burned alive is bad too.......most of the old computer rooms are having the Halon fire supression systems removed....i wouldn't worry about if its a fire extingusher in your car....

 

It's a greenhouse gas, that's why it's being banned. Halon is a cfc gas (chlorine/fluor/carbon), it's CBrF3 , it's not carcenogenic or even toxic (tlv levels)

 

I've never heard that one. Don't you have to be exposed for long periods for something to cause cancer? I don't know about you but I generally don't hang around a fire when the extinguishers go off.

 

Works on fires though...

Lots of folks with boats try to find halon systems for the engine rooms...

 

I thought you were going to say, 'I generally don't hang aroung fire extinguishers'...

 

Sounds like the EPA radon scare. We supposedly have 20,000 deaths a year from non-smokers with lung cancer. Since we couldn't find any other answer, let's blame it on radon. Even though there is no correlation between areas with extremely high radon levels and non-smoker cancer deaths. But it creates jobs.

 

I agree with Twin Turbo, fluorocarbons are extremely inert...higher molecular weight species are even being experimented with as blood substitutes, and have been used experimentally in liquid ventilation (humans, even!) for 30 years. (side note...ever seen the movie "The Abyss? Cool flick which uses this concept in the storyline, and even cooler to is the fact that it's not even science fiction, it really works!). The only problem is that they are SO inert that the will ONLY react with extremele reactive molecules like Ozone, which popular opinion has it should be preserved . I wouldn't worry about carcinagenicity (unless you live in California, where according to the watchdogs EVERYTHING is carcinogenic except left wing movie stars).

-Doc

 

I don't lick them either

 

Good one! I wouldn't worry about it even if they are. There's enough crap being put into our food without having to worry about fire extinguishers
Shouldn't this be in O/T?

 

Len,
Here is the MSDS info. for Amerex Halon extinguishers.
http://www.amerex-fire.com/MSDS/halon.pdf

Dan
www.vetteworksonline.com

 

TT is correct. If you try really hard, you could probably suffocate yourself with a Halon extinguisher, but it probably wouldn't give you cancer. Halon isn't really ideal for cars in any case. The big plus is that it won't leave any residue. It isn't the best for oil and gas fires though.

 

But probably not from breathing it.

My understanding is that Halon destroys the Ozone. Halon has been phased out years ago here in Australia. There has been a big hole on and off in the Ozone layer over Antarctica and Southern Australia. Skin cancer rates have sky rocketed in recent years. Skin cancer could become one of Australia's biggest killers. I live in the tropical north away from the hole but when I travel south I'm always amazed how quickly I burn.

 

But I thought the fluorocarbons were heavier than oxygen and couldn't possibly rise above ground level???

 

We use Halon in some of our older computer room installations. We cant install it any more for the aforementioned reasons so we use CO2 ( a bit corrosive if you cant control the humidity). There are Halon replacements and other gasses like Argon.

Halon "fills up" the room displacing the oxygen from the floor on up so it works best if you have a bucket with no huge holes. We also have to train on the use of each type of extinguisher so the firermen start some fires of differnt types and we have to practice putting them out with halon, water, CO2, and foam... a great time had by all.


http://yarchive.net/chem/halon.html
probably more than you wanted to know

 

yeah, it may gives you cancer but just remember the saying,
"whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger"


saw a T.V. show a while back. someone was circulating a petition to get di-hydrogen oxide banned because it causes cancer. just about everybody they asked signed the petition. di-hydrogen oxide is WATER!!!!!!!!!!

 

It is a common misconception that halon "robs oxygen." This is what C02 does, not halon. There is a lot of confusion regarding halon - a great, unbiased source is the Halon Alternative Research Corporation (www.harc.org). This non-profit organization is devoted to finding halon alternatives, and to responsible use of halon reserves until an acceptable alternative is developed.
According to HARC: "Halons are low-toxicity, chemically stable compounds that have been used for fire and explosion protection throughout this century. Today, Halon 1211 (a liquid streaming agent) is used mainly in hand-held fire extinguishers and Halon 1301 (a gaseous agent) is used mainly in total flooding systems. These halons have proven to be extremely effective fire suppressants, which are clean (leave no residue) and remarkably safe for human exposure. Three things must come together at the same time to start a fire. The first ingredient is fuel (anything that can burn), the second is oxygen (normal breathing air is ample) and the last is an ignition source (high heat can cause a fire even without a spark or open flame). Traditionally, to stop a fire you need to remove one side of the triangle - the ignition, the fuel or the oxygen. Halon adds a fourth dimension to fire fighting - breaking the chain reaction. It stops the fuel, the ignition and the oxygen from dancing together by chemically reacting with them. Many people believe that halon displaces the air out of the area it is dispensed in. Wrong! Even for the toughest hazards, less than an 8% concentration by volume is required. There is still plenty of air to use in the evacuation process."
Halon is still the best stuff out there , and is readily available (recycled and recharged ) if you know where to look.
Check out my web page.
Dan
www.vetteworksonline.com

 

The O-zone hole over the Antartic has been the big driver for gitting rid of fluorocarbons. Fluorocarbons are banned today. That's why C2 and early C3 folks have to modify their Air Conditioners for the new air conditioner fluids.

Because of some unsual circumstances, in the early 1980's my company had me flying to various company facilites to give Halon training classes. This always involved large computer facilities. If a fire broke out, the halon gas would be triggered and then used to fumigate the room. The training was (incredibly) that if there was a computer room fire, the people inside were not to try to escape and open the doors (!!!), at the onset of a fire, the Halon system would blow Halon gas into the room. People in the room were not to open the doors, since it would cause dilution of the Halon. The Halon system would reduce the normal oxygen content of the room (16%) down to 9% or so. This would keep a human being alive, but would surpress the fire. Part of my instruction speech was to tell people to not get excited (!!) since with 9% oxygen, they might faint if they got excited. Comforting to know that with a 9% oxygen atmosphere you would not faint if you didn't get excited!

There was another part of my training classes. If you were standing next to the Halogen gas outlets, they would trigger off with an explosive force that could hypothetically blow out your ear drum. OSHA rules were at the time that a ruptured ear drum due to a Hologen trigger was not a disabilty since you didn't need an ear drum!! (OSHA said that some people were born without eardrums) .

This Halogen training class that I had to present was really one of the most unusual things I've ever had to do. I never believed some of it. If I was in a computer room and the alarm sounded, I would immediately exit out of the door. (There was a 10 second period (?) between the alarm and gas ejection.)

 

lol, sounds pretty crazy. I would be pissed if I lost an eardrum and didnt get any compensation...