superglue burning eyes

[Mark Schecter]

Hi, Don.

I admit it had occurred to me to wonder, what with "cyano-" in the name,
but clearly it's not cyanide. Interestingly, if you Google
"cyanoacrylate fumes" you get a bunch of sites related to using fumes
from _heated_ CA to react with fingerprint oils in forensics. CA boils
at about 150°F. What I'm wondering now is, when we use CA cold in
pianos, are the fumes we smell whole CA vapors, or are they some
component/solvent/fraction? One thing I read said that the cure speed is
controlled by the acid content, i.e. more acid cures more slowly. That's
the flip side of a base such as baking soda or even water acting as an
accelerant. Seems to me the irritating fumes may be, at least in part,
acid fumes.

Either way, it seems to me that the fumes are irritating and noxious,
but so far I'm not seeing info stating that they're toxic. Can anyone
point to something definitive that says CA fumes are toxic? Thanks.

-Mark Schecter

Don wrote:
> Hi Mark,
> 
> You may well be right.  Here is a less technical description that clearly
> states it is not cyanide.
> 
> http://www.ca-plus.com/faq.html