Dangerous Substance - The Follow Up

Went round my mates to help him sort his bike out. Now someone mentioned an odour, well I don't know
if this counts but when we were peeling the rubber of his tyres off his rims we both noticed a
almond/roasting apples kind of smell. It managed to destroy both tyres, but left the aluminum mesh
the tyres is built on. It also destroyed the inner tubes, brake blocks, cable sleeves, crud
catchers. The paint work on the forks and on the rear of the frame has peeled right off the frame
and has gone back to bare metal. The chain is clean as the grease and dirt has gone. He said he was
going to have get the bike dipped and resprayed. Luckly his rims were fine. Just curious as to what
would of happened if he didn't have his crud catcher fitted. Some of you have mentioned substances,
what would they have done to the skin? The police said it will take at least 2 weeks to test the
stuff they sampled, then they will let me know.

Thanks for listening to my ranting.

Gadget

 

"Gadget" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Went round my mates to help him sort his bike out. Now someone mentioned
an
> odour, well I don't know if this counts but when we were peeling the
rubber
> of his tyres off his rims we both noticed a almond/roasting apples kind of smell. It managed to
> destroy both tyres, but left the aluminum mesh the tyres is built on. It also destroyed the inner
> tubes, brake blocks, cable sleeves, crud catchers. The paint work on the forks and on the rear of
> the frame has peeled right off the frame and has gone back to bare metal. The chain is clean as
> the grease and dirt has gone. He said he was going to have get the bike dipped and resprayed.
> Luckly his rims were fine. Just curious as to what would of happened if he didn't
have
> his crud catcher fitted. Some of you have mentioned substances, what would they have done to the
> skin? The police said it will take at least 2 weeks
to
> test the stuff they sampled, then they will let me know.
>
> Thanks for listening to my ranting.
>
> Gadget

Quite a few years ago I worked in a fairly high-end ski shop that sold a lot of foam injected ski
boots (custom fitted boots made by injecting foam into the bladders, for the non-skiers in this
NG). The process entailed mixing the foam substance with a cyanide based catalyst (this method is,
AFAIK, no longer used), and we were warned that if we ever smelled an almond kind of smell, it
meant that the catalyst had spilled or was leaking, and we should get the hell out of the shop as
quickly as possible.

I'm not a chemist, and I apopogize for any technical inaccuracies, but Gadget's mention of an almond
smell reminded me of this episode in my life. Does this shed any light on the possible nature of the
mystery solvent, or am I completely full of crap?
--
mark

 

"Gadget" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Went round my mates to help him sort his bike out. Now someone mentioned
an
> odour, well I don't know if this counts but when we were peeling the
rubber
> of his tyres off his rims we both noticed a almond/roasting apples kind of smell. It managed to
> destroy both tyres, but left the aluminum mesh the tyres is built on. It also destroyed the inner
> tubes, brake blocks, cable sleeves, crud catchers. The paint work on the forks and on the rear of
> the frame has peeled right off the frame and has gone back to bare metal. The chain is clean as
> the grease and dirt has gone. He said he was going to have get the bike dipped and resprayed.
> Luckly his rims were fine. Just curious as to what would of happened if he didn't
have
> his crud catcher fitted. Some of you have mentioned substances, what would they have done to the
> skin? The police said it will take at least 2 weeks
to
> test the stuff they sampled, then they will let me know.

Assuming it was an organic solvent, it probably would have only degreased your skin and you might
have developed a mild dermatitis. Problems would only occur if you used it on a regular basis, a
one off incident wouldn't do much harm. Inorganic acids and alkalis (Sulphuric Acid and Sodium
Hydroxide) are much more dangerous short term.
--
Simon Mason Anlaby East Yorkshire. 53°44'N 0°26'W http://www.simonmason.karoo.net