[CAUT] fire extinguisher dust

[Don McKechnie]

Thanks much to everyone for the responses to my fire extinguisher dust 
query. I spent the good part of two days cleaning up two Steinway B's. 
Donning appropriate protective gear of course. We will have to wait and 
see what might happen down the road to these pianos. I'm sure that I did 
not get all the dust no matter how careful I was. The particles are just 
too fine.

The extinguisher was an ABC dry chemical type. Here is a list of the 
chemicals found in this type of extinguisher:

momo-ammonium phosphate
ammonium sulphate
mica
Attapulgite clay
silicone oil
calcium carbonate
amorphous silica
yellow 14 pigment

I requested a Material Safety Data Sheet on this extinguisher before 
attempting a cleanup and I grilled the head of Life Safety. Bottom line 
was that the room was not hazardous for breathing with proper gear. The 
above chemicals are skin and respiratory irritants and in large doses, 
without protection, can be quite harmful. A quick search on the internet 
did not reveal any carcinogen properties.

Some of the above chemicals are corrosive agents. Therefore there is 
some concern that problems with the pianos might occur down the road. As 
I mentioned above, I doubt I got all the dust out. The college insurance 
has a very large deductible so rebuilding will not be covered. It must 
be a total loss before the insurance kicks in. You may want to check on 
your school's insurance deductible for future reference.

Thanks again,
Don