Methanol...gently submitted

[Susan Kline]

Oh, dear me, no, no, no.
Not what I meant at all, Jim! Not that _you_, or _anyone_, is dumb! Not that
you abuse chemicals, or encouraged anyone else to abuse them. Not that
ethanol is harmless, totally harmless.

ONLY two things:
That ethanol isn't nearly _as_ toxic as methanol, and will do exactly the
same jobs exactly as well.

That beta carotene is not as toxic as vitamin A. In fact, it is not
dangerous at all! It is a precursor of vitamin A. The body turns it to
vitamin A in exactly the (nontoxic) amounts needed, and leaves the rest,
harmlessly, in storage in the fat under your skin, where it even prevents
sun damage. The only way you can get vitamin A toxicity is to ingest
preformed vitamin A from animal or artificial sources, i.e., polar bear
liver or bottles of vitamin A capsules taken in excess. 

> As for the foodstuffs....hit a hot button huh ?  :-) [("during a few periods
>of my chequered life"), tell us more inquiring minds  :-)   ...]

Ah, yes, how did I find out about carrots and carotene, and vitamins, etc.
Well, I was sick. I felt lousy most of the time, and had a lot of dizzy fits
and palpitations. It wasn't quite a full-blown chemical hypersensitivity,
but it tended in that direction. I tried anything I could to feel better,
including diets of almost every stripe, vitamins, any number of systems. I'm
doing better now, and one of the things I do is limit exposure to things
which are toxic, to the extent I can. 

It's all a matter of degree, Jim. You can kill yourself with tomatoes and
milk, and even beta carotene (if you put 20 pounds of it in a plastic bag,
put your head in the bag, and tighten a rope around your neck.) But you have
to WORK at it! 

Organic solvents take much less work ... they can harm you much more easily.

That's all I'm saying.

Susan
-------------------------------------------------------
At 11:35 PM 1/15/98 EST, you wrote:
>Susan;
> I am including some, admittedly self serving, quotes from my posts vis a vis
>Methanol. I would also like to point out that I have never said to use
>methanol, I have said that Methanol will work in the application discussed.
>(Well in a private post I suggested using Methanol simply because it was the
>method  I chose to get the point across that a pure alcohol was desired.)
>
> "Alcohol in any form if abused is toxic,"
>
>"One should not be using any liquid that is volital in an enclosed - non
>ventilated space period."
>
>"If we don't use all of our chemicals with some discretion we will get into
>trouble eventually."
>
>"So I suppose what I am saying is use what works best for you, realizing that
>all chemicals are toxic and should not be misused/abused.  Use these chemicals
>in well ventilated spaces and only as much as is needed, and dispose of
>residues properly."
>
>"Methanol highly toxic? of course........"
>
>"you should use what works for you and use it in a responsible fashion."
>
>"Treat all chemicals with respect and there should never be a problem, misuse
>or abuse even the most benign chemicals and there will be a problem."
>
> As for the foodstuffs....hit a hot button huh ?  :-) [("during a few periods
>of my chequered life"), tell us more inquiring minds  :-)   ...]
>
>Again Susan let me point out the definition of Toxic as contained in AH
>dictionary, i.e. #2. Capable of causing injury or death, especially by
>chemical means; poisonous: food preservatives that are toxic in concentrated
>amounts.
>abusing Beta Carotenes will kill you.
>abusing Milk will kill you.
>abusing Acetic Acid (tomatoes) will kill you.
>  Remember we are talking toxic and not the level of toxicity.
>Just Plain Stupid Jim.
>Jim Bryant (FL)
>"I may be slow but I'm dumb"
>Anon.
>
>

Susan Kline
P.O. Box 1651
Philomath, OR 97370
skline@proaxis.com

"If I were determined to commit suicide, I would first try to do it with
chocolate."
			-- Ashleigh Brilliant

"If life really is just an illusion, please convey my compliments to the
illusionist."
			-- Ashleigh Brilliant