Propelyne glycol on the internet...

[Xaiver]

So, I decided to do a bit of reading on a topic near and dear to my heart... Propelyne Glycol. It's such a pretty word, and it happens to be one of the main 'substances' that I spend most of my day with. (More than my favored dihydrogen monoxide, if the truth were known)

Two sites that came up on my google search revealed that it was a clear, odorless, semi-transparent, synthetic liquid. Synthetic, meaning not-naturally occurring , as far as I recognize the term. They went on to list several things that it was used in, and then to reveal that it was considered generally safe, one even told me that it was typically used as an anti-freeze in places where leaks may come in to contact with food products.

I discovered that it metabolizes very quickly in the body, just a simple sugars do, breaking down into acids that traverse the blood stream and exit in a timely fashion. All very useful things to know, not exactly what I was looking for, so I read on.

Then I stumbled upon page after page talking about how it was toxic, and that workers that were around the substance were required (in bold) to wear protective gear. That it's a severe eye irritant and can cause liver and kidney abnormalities...and the only real thing that they seem to say is "It's used in ANTI-FREEZE!!!111!!!"

I realize that they're reaching quite a bit for most of these. Water is used in anti-freeze too, and I suppose that water is known to cause cancer, since we don't -really- know what causes it, why should we rule that one out? Just because we need water to survive, doesn't mean it doesn't have negative effects, right?

Irony aside for the moment, what exactly are these people hoping to achieve using scare tactics? I don't understand what would bring someone to even waste the half hour to write a (trashy looking) web-page dedicated to misinformation.

Insight?
-X

*edit - Hopefully I picked an appropriate forum for this, seemed to be relative. Apologies if it wasn't...and I'm sure I'm not digging up new ground here. This has probably been discussed over and over again.

 

[BardicDruid]

Well both are right actually, Propelyne Glycol USP is food/medical grade while Propelyne Glycol DSP is for industrial purposes. The strange thing is the media and others have blurred that line between the two, that bothers me because of the possibility of someone getting them mixed up.

 

[KTaylor]

[QUOTEWell both are right actually, Propelyne Glycol USP is food/medical grade while Propelyne Glycol DSP is for industrial purposes. The strange thing is the media and others have blurred that line between the two, that bothers me because of the possibility of someone getting them mixed up.
][/QUOTE]

As such would hold true for potable and non-potable water....there has to be a distinction!

 

[carpedebass]

Yea, I heard non potable water causes cancer in laboratory rats. Be afraid! Be very afraid!!

 

[Mindfield]

It may not even be deliberate scare tactics. It could be simple ignorance. What was that saying? "Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity." (Or not necessarily stupidity, as ignorance can work just as well here.) There are two things at work here:

1. Some people confuse diethylene glycol (the poisonous stuff used in automotive antifreeze) with propylene glycol, because, you know, they both say something-lene glycol; and,
2. Propylene glycol is used as a type of antifreeze -- the type used to winterize drinking water systems by putting it right in the water.

And of course, there is always the third element: Some people love jumping on a righteous, fear-mongering bandwagon.

 

[JTman]

It may not even be deliberate scare tactics. It could be simple ignorance. What was that saying? "Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity." (Or not necessarily stupidity, as ignorance can work just as well here.) There are two things at work here:

1. Some people confuse diethylene glycol (the poisonous stuff used in automotive antifreeze) with propylene glycol, because, you know, they both say something-lene glycol; and,
2. Propylene glycol is used as a type of antifreeze -- the type used to winterize drinking water systems by putting it right in the water.

And of course, there is always the third element: Some people love jumping on a righteous, fear-mongering bandwagon.

+1 for fear-mongering. Seems more and more people out there just want to spread ill will on the internet. But then again I have a very jaded viewpoint of the general public so you may not want to listen to me

 

[JustaGuy]

When it comes to ignorance and stupidity, remember grading on a bell curve? The bulk of people land in the middle of the curve. Simple math gives us an average, the numerical mid point. By definition, half of us are "above average" and half of us "below average". Therefore, half the opinions, including those espoused on the net and in media, are of below average origin (I suspect a higher percentage for some math anomaly). It would not be true if only "above average" folks get promoted and decide who writes the opinions, but management is also people and graded on a bell curve. As for which half of the curve my opinion resides? Well, it's obvious...somewhere on that slippery bell.

 

[carpedebass]

When it comes to ignorance and stupidity, remember grading on a bell curve? The bulk of people land in the middle of the curve. Simple math gives us an average, the numerical mid point. By definition, half of us are "above average" and half of us "below average". Therefore, half the opinions, including those espoused on the net and in media, are of below average origin (I suspect a higher percentage for some math abnormality). It would not be true if only "above average" folks get promoted and decide who writes the opinions, but management is also people and graded on a bell curve. As for which half of the curve my opinion resides? Well, it's obvious...somewhere on that slippery bell.

I think I'm right under the clacker...

 

[JustaGuy]

I think I'm right under the clacker...

Hey, carpe, anyone who has Latin in their user name is not required to pinpoint his location on the bell.

 

[carpedebass]

Hey, carpe, anyone who has Latin in their user name is not required to pinpoint his location on the bell.

saltus in demonstrando

 

[Alac]

<snip>Irony aside for the moment, what exactly are these people hoping to achieve using scare tactics? I don't understand what would bring someone to even waste the half hour to write a (trashy looking) web-page dedicated to misinformation. <snip>

Well, a week or so ago, someone used it to explaine why a mass produced cake had little taste.