Mark Kinsler wrote:
> <lisse at saintmail.net> wrote:
>> >My online enquiry about Benzene was prompted by someone building a gas
> >station right next to a primary school building, which houses over one
> >thousand little schoolchildren.
> >
> >At first I had only the fear of explosion (of the gas station) which could
> >injured or killed the schoolchildren studying in a building next door,
>> Gas stations don't blow up if they're built to Western codes. We heat our
> schools here in the USA with natural gas and propane. We power many
> school buses with gasoline. The safety record is very good.
>> >when I was told that gasoline contains Benzene (among other toxic
> >chemicals), and Benzene has been shown to cause various types of cancers,
> >like Leukemia and bone marrow abnormalities, my concern regarding the case
> >where someone building a gas station right next door to a school building
> >only increases.
>> Emissions from gas stations should be controlled by the local
> environmental authority, if any.
They aren't there every day to make sure.
> I'm guessing from the header that you're
> posting from Malaysia, which has a rotten record of air pollution control.
> The air in many parts of Asia will kill the kids before they ever get
> close to a gas station.
Two wrongs don't make a right.
>>> >Right now, I am trying to gather all types of evidences, from the explosive
> >properties of gasoline (and cases of actual explosions of gas stations as
> >references), to toxicological studies of gasoline - and all the chemical
> >compounds that are found in gasoline - along with all the research data that
> >have indicated that chemicals like Benzene causes cancers in human bodies.
>> Well, I'm pretty sure you'll find that benzene in any concentration is a
> fairly potent carcinogen, but I don't think that an independent, unbiased
> statistical study will reveal much of a link between casual exposure to
> gasoline and cancer. There are, of course, experts who will be glad to
> prove anything you wish.
>> >I am trying to gather all these information so that I can show them to the
> >PTA of the school, the local council and all the related authorities who
> >have granted approval for someone (I am still tracking the identity of the
> >person) building the gas station.
> >All I know now is the gas station is going to be a Shell gas station, and I
> >have tried to obtain data from www.shell.com, regarding the chemical make-up
> >of their gasoline, but so far they have stonewalled me.
>> Most gasoline is roughly the same in composition. Have a look in the
> petrochemical section of your local library and you ought to find out just
> about everything you're interested in.
Additives vary.
>>> >My concern is this - the students studying in that school building are
> >LITTLE KIDS, and they have to spend up to 7 hours in and around that
> >building _every_ school day, for at least six years of their lives.
>> On US school schedules, kids spend about 1/8 of their time in school: 1/4
> of the day, for 1/2 of the year. The rest of the time, they ride in cars,
> play in yards, climb trees, eat anything that won't eat them first, and
> throw things at each other. Most seem to survive the experience.
I think the poster is as interested in general health as mortality. "Surviving"
and "being healthy" are two different concepts. You can survive but not
healthily.
>>> >Children's body are not as strong as adults, they are more supcetable to all
> >types of immunological diseases, and if gasoline somehow have negative
> >effect in human beings, I am worried that some students may come down with
> >some irrepairable ailment/diseases in the future.
>> Some will. Happens all the time. But despite what the fringe science
> community likes to tell us, there doesn't seem to be much evidence that
> many, or even most, cancers are environmentally related. It's a very old
> disease and was common before anyone used benzene, tobacco, or any of the
> other environmental factors that are fashionable to blame it on.
Perhaps you should browse through MSDS and search on "carcinogenic"
>>> >To summarize what I am doing:
> >
> > I am trying to stop the building of
> > a gas station which is located right
> > next to a school building, and I am
> > trying to gather all the information
> > which can show the danger of placing
> > a gas station right next door to a
> > school building, including the toxic
> > and carcinogenic effect of chemicals
> > like Benzene.
>> >Sir, I hope that you can help me, by providing me with whatever information
> >that you have. The more info I have to backup my claim that gasoline station
> >isn't a good neighbor to a school, the stronger case I can make.
> >
> >Would you help me, sir? I'd appreciate any and all help from anyone who
> >cares.
>> The problem is that, from a rational, scientific standpoint, there's
> probably no danger whatsoever to the kids from a gas station near the
> school. It's eminently clear that you're either convinced otherwise or
> perhaps have other reasons for opposing the construction of that
> particular facility.
in that particular location..is my interpretation of her post.
>>> Mark Kinsler
>> --
> ............................................................................
> 114 Columbia Ave. Athens, Ohio USA 45701 voice740.594.3737 fax740.592.3059
> Home of the "How Things Work" engineering program for adults and kids.
> See http://www.frognet.net/~kinslerhttp://www.esdjournal.com/static/explode/flames.htmhttp://www.buffnet.net/~hbenzee/bul.htm
Many "freak" accidents don't hit the news.
You sure are out of touch with reality!
