[sdiy] Indeed OT:How to create healty smoke for my wind tunnel!!

[karl dalen]

 Hi!

Thanks for the sugestions folks!

I assembled your inital tip and did som web search 
and found some recomendations (se included text below!)
Wich migh enlight others into making smoking synts!

Reg
KD

Smoke and Fog Hazards 

 By Michael McCann, Ph.D., C.I.H.

 Introduction 

     In the last 10 years, the use of fog and smoke to create atmosphere or
special lighting effects has greatly expanded, due in great
     part to the influence of music videos.

     There are a wide variety of products and machines used to create smoke and
fog effects, with varying degrees of hazard. This
     dadta sheete only discusses non-explosive materials that depend upon a
change in physical state to create the effect, not a
     chemical reaction.

     Fog and smoke effects are created by generating a fine mist, a dispersion
of very small particles, or an actual smoke by burning
     organic materials. All smokes and fogs are easily inhaled. Some chemicals
used to generate the smoke or fog are toxic;
     however even chemicals that are not appreciably toxic can be irritating to
the lungs. In particular, high risk groups such as people
     with asthma or other respiratory problems, children, or elderly, and
people having to do deep breathing (e.g a musician playing a
     wind instrument or a singer) might be more susceptible to inhalation of
any material.

     It is often difficult to obtain information on many of these products,
even from Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs), because
     many manufacturers claim that the compositions are trade secrets.
Manufacturers of these products often make extravagant
     claims as to safety. For example, many products state that the chemicals
used have been approved by the Food and Drug
     Administration (FDA) for ingestion. However, the fact that it might be
safe by ingestion does not mean it is necessarily safe by
     inhalation.

     Some manufacturers also claim that air sampling studies indicate that the
concentration of their product in air is below the
     Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) Permissible
Exposure Limit (PEL). This is very misleading, since
     OSHA PELs and the Threshold Limit Values they are based upon are intended
to apply to workers in industry and do not usually
     protect the general population, especially high risk groups as discussed
above.

     Many manufacturers have done acute toxicity studies on their products.
These animal studies only tell the effects of single
     exposures and not of repeated exposures. In addition these studies would
not pick up reversible, respiratory irritation which can
     be crucial to actors or singers. 

     Another problem is determining the length of exposure. The assumption is
that these fogs are used only for short periods of time.
     However in film production, for example, a particular scene could be
reshot many times, thus lengthening the period of exposure.
     Also in theater, actors could be exposed daily. In addition most theaters
or motion picture productions do not have an efficient
     method for clearing out the fog between takes or scenes, so that there can
be an accumulation of the fog chemicals over a period
     of time. This can result in longer exposures not only for the actors but
also the crew.

     In attempts to evaluate the safety of some of these fogs and smokes,
unions and other groups have had these products analyzed.
     In addition, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
(NIOSH) and others have conducted air sampling studies to
     try and evaluate the safety of the products.

 Hazards of Particular Fogs and Smokes 

     Dry Ice Dry ice is one of the earliest types of materials used to create
fog effects. Dry ice is frozen carbon dioxide, and when
     exposed to air it sublimes directly from a solid to a gas. The cold gas
causes moisture to condense into a thick, low-lying fog. 

     Dry ice is the safest way to generate fog except in enclosed spaces where
the carbon dioxide can accumulate and reduce the
     oxygen concentration in the air. This could cause asphyxiation if the
oxygen concentration falls below 19.5%. There would also be
     a hazard if someone was lying down in the dry ice fog. 

 Petroleum Distillates

     Many of the earlier types of fogs were based on kerosene, fuel oil or
other petroleum distillates. These were vaporized by heating
     to generate a fine mist. Unfortunately inhalation of these chemicals
caused eye and respiratory irritation, chemical pneumonia,
     and narcosis (dizziness, headaches, nausea, etc.). In addition, the mist
of these petroelum distillates is a fire hazard. I definitely
     recommend against any fog product containing fuel oil or other petroleum
distillates.

 Zinc Chloride Smoke Generating Devices

     A number of companies sell smoke generators based on zinc chloride (e.g.
smoke cookies, smoke pots, smoke candles, smoke
     bombs). Some of these also contain chlorinated hydrocarbons such as
perchloroethylene, a suspect carcinogen. The smoke is
     generated by heating or burning the product, which is classified as a
Flammable Solid, D.O.S. by the Department of
     Transportation. These are available in sizes that generate small to very
large amounts of smoke. The Material Safety Data
     Sheets on many of these products are not adequate and do not reflect their
hazards. Use of these smoke devices in fire fighter
     training exercises has resulted over the years in complaints of breathing
problems, chest paints, hot and cold flashes, headache,
     fever, fatigue, sore throat, nausea, cough and even some fatalities. Some
of these symptoms might be due to chlorinated
     hydrocarbons, but most are due to the generation of high concentrations of
hydrochloric acid from the reaction of the zinc chloride
     with water. In some studies hydrochloric acid concnetration have been many
times higher than OSHA PELs and even approach
     levels considered immmediately dangerous to life or health. Even lower
levels of smoke has caused symptoms. I recommend
     against the use of zinc chloride smoke devices, or devices based on
titanium chloride and similar materials indoors or in outdoor
     situations where either film crew or actors could be exposed to any
substantial amount of the smoke.

 Ammonium Chloride

     Ammonium chloride (sal ammoniac) is a common method of generating smoke on
stage and outdoors. The smoke is created by
     heating the ammonium chloride. Air sampling studies have found large
concentrations of ammonium chloride, in some instances
     near the OSHA PEL for nuisance dusts. Air sampling studies have also shown
that some decomposition of the ammonium
     chloride to hydrogen chloride occurs during this heating. The hydrogen
chloride dissolves in water in the respiratory system to
     produce hydrochloric acid, a respiratory irritant. The levels of
hydrochloric acid are much smaller than caused by the zinc chloride
     smoke devices, but are still high enough to cause concern. It is not
recommended that ammonium chloride be used indoors or in
     enclosed spaces.

 Mineral Oil

     This includes oil crackers and diffusion foggers. Oil crackers involved
bubbling air through a drum of mineral oil. The air bubbles
     reaching the surface contained "cracked" oil of particle size 1 to 50
microns. This oil is not "cracked" in the sense of chemically
     breaking down the oil but is merely creating smaller droplet size. This
has also been used in combination with dry ice. The
     diffusion fogger produces a mineral mist of less than 1 micron size by
using a compressor to force mineral oil through a series of
     fine filters. Air sampling studies by CalOSHA in an enclosed sound stage
90'x75'x30' found that ten minutes of fogging produced
     mineral oil concentrations for almost 2 hours that were 50% to 90% of the
OSHA 8-hour PEL for mineral oil. However this PEL for
     mineral oil is based on its use as a cutting oil in industry; no
toxicological studies have been made on inhalation of mineral oil of
     particle size less than one micron. However there is concern about long
term problems such as lipid pneumonia since the very
     fine mineral oil mist gets deep into the lungs and stays there. This is
not recommended for use indoors or where personnel could
     inhale the mineral oil.

 Glycol Fogs

     During the last decade, a whole range of products have been developed that
use mixtures of water and polyfunctional alcohols,
     including ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, diethylene glycol,
triethylene glycol, polyethylene glycol and glycerin. In general these
     are safer than most of the other fogs and smokes with the exception of dry
ice. Ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol are toxic by
     ingestion, causing kidney damage and possible death; the other glycols
mentioned are considered only slightly toxic. Ethylene
     glycol has been removed from most fogs after studies showed that it is a
teratogen (can cause birth defects). Unfortunately
     long-term studies have not been done on inhalation of the mists of most of
these glycols, although respiratory irritation is
     sometimes listed on Material Safety Data Sheets. 

     A more serious concern is how the fog is generated. These mixtures are
heated in a fog machine that heats the liquid to a
     temperature near 600 F. One air sampling study found significant levels of
acrolein in the mist generated, about 20% of the
     OSHA PEL. Acrolein is a strong respiratory and eye irritant. NIOSH is
conducting studies on various fogs to determine the extent
     of this decomposition product. It is likely that some chemicals could
generate more decomposition products than others.
     Reformulation and finding ways to reduce the temperature needed to create
the mist are possible solutions. Despite these
     problems, at this time the glycol fogs are probably the least hazardous
fogs to use, although some will probably turn out to be
     safer than others.

 Burning Orgnic Materials

     The burning of gums such as olibanum gum (frankincense), paper, and other
materials can also generate smoke. These smokes
     are irritating and considerable amounts of carbon monoxide may also be
generated. In addition to the smoke hazards, there is
     the concern about the open flames. These materials should not be burned
inside or where people would be exposed to
     substantial amounts of smoke.

 Types of Respirators

     The following table lists the types of respirators to use with different
mists and fogs: 

     Table 1.

     Respirator Selection for Smoke and Fog dry ice - none needed; test oxygen
concentration in enclosed spaces.

     zinc chloride - acid gas cartridge and dusts and mist filter; high
concentrations need air- supplied respirators

     ammonium chloride - acid gas cartridge and dusts and mists filter mineral
oil - dusts and mists filter 

     glycol fogs - organic vapor cartrdige and dusts and mists filter 

     burning materials - dusts and mists filter for smoke. 

 Recommendations

     1. Smoke and fog on stage, television and motion picture sets is regulated
by most Fire Departments. In New York City, for
     example, you need a fire permit to use smoke and fog just as you do for
pyrotechnics. 

     2. All personnel (stage or camera crew, actors, etc.) should be informed
in advance of the intention to use smoke or fog and the
     type to be used. Before use, there should be a discussion of the hazards
and precautions being taken. 

     3. Obtain Material Safety Data Sheets on all smoke and fog products. In
particular note whether the Reactivity section lists any
     hazardous decomposition products. 

     4. The choice of product depends on whether it will be used indoors or
outdoors, in enclosed spaces, and whether people will be
     exposed for any significant period. 

     5. Children, elderly and people with respiratory problems should be
informed of their possible higher risks. A medical opinion
     should be obtained as to whether they should be exposed. 

     6. Use only fog and smoke machines with the chemicals recommended by the
manufacturer. Other materials may clog, or
     otherwise interfere with proper operation of the machine. Keep the fog
machine in good repair and use as instructed. 

     7. Use the minimum concentration of smoke for the minimum period of time
necessary. Avoid heavy concentrations when people
     are exposed. 

     8. Only allow essential personnel on the set or stage when using smoke and
fog effects. Also evacuate any nearby areas where
     the smoke could reach. 

     9. On stages, interior sets or in enclosed areas, the crew should wear
respirators. Respirators should also be available for
     anyone wanting one in any situation. All respirators should be
NIOSH-approved. 

     10. On stages, interior sets or in enclosed areas, rapidly exhaust the
smoke once not needed and between takes. Portable
     ventilators of the type used in manholes can be used (e.g. Coppus
Engineering Corporation in Milbury, MA). In theaters it is
     particularly important to exhaust the fog away from the audience or
orchestra pit. There have been situations where children in the
     audience have gotten ill because of exposure to fogs drifting from the
stage. Outdoors, large fans can be used to blow away the
     smoke. 

     11. For motion picture production, minimize the number of takes to further
reduce exposure of personnel. 

     12. When burning organic materials, have a fire watch on hand. 

 Sources of Additional Help

     Written and telephone inquiries about hazards in the performing arts and
entertainment industries will be answered by the Art
     Hazards Information Center of the Center for Safety in the Arts. The
Information Center has a variety of written materials available
     on this subject. Permission to reprint this data sheet may be requested in
writing from the Center. Enclose a self- addressed,
     stamped envelope for our publications list. Write: Center for Safety in
the Arts, 5 Beekman Street, New York, N.Y. 10038.
     Telephone: 212/227-6220 This data sheet has been made possible through
funding from the New York State Department of
     Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Training and Education Program. CSA
is also supported with public funds from the
     National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts and
the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. (c)
     Copyright Center for Safety in the Arts 1991