Pinky, Me thinks either your mechanic may not have given you the whole story or perhaps you have come to a somewhat erroneous conclusion from the information he gave you. Yes, antifreeze (a generic term for *many* different formulations of products) is toxic, but generally only so if INGESTED. The amount that may be absorbed through the skin when servicing your vehicle, cleaning up a spill, or any other sane use of the product is trivial. In general, the primary concern about antifreeze toxicity is in relation to animals. Dogs & cats will lick up antifreeze spills because it tastes sweet. It is not at all uncommon in most moderate to severe front-end collisions for the cooling system integrity to be compromised, spraying antifreeze/water all over. If this substance were as lethal as you make it out to be, we'd have to have HAZMAT crews dispatched every time some ya-hoo had a car wreck. The compartment under the driver's seat generally the same construction as the compartment under the passenger seat: a battery compartment. A battery contains acid which if contacted with your skin, even in small quantities, will be much worse than a similar antifreeze exposure. Finally, considering Jeff's job (vanagon parts supplier/repair shop), I think he safely fits into the experts category for all intents and purposes. Here is a link to a PDF that specifically addresses the potential toxicity of ethylene glycol (primary constituent in most antifreeze) when absorbed through the skin: http://www.huntsman.com/surface_sciences/Media/Skin_Contact.pdf Below is a link to an article that gives an overview of the toxicity of the various constituents of most antifreeze products: http://www.vspn.org/Library/misc/VSPN_M00981.htm Cheers, JD
> >Why do you carry antifreeze within the confines of the passenger compartment >of your van? My mechanic told me that as innocuous as antifreeze might seem >to be, it is an utterly ***toxic*** substance. Please, for your own safety and >well being, allow only your mechanic to handle antifreeze. It is too, too >dangerous to have it stored where it might be spilt in the unfortunate and >unpredictable event of an accident. Some things just ***have*** to be left to the >experts. > >Pinky > > |
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