Re: Cleaning mag plates

[legendre]

quote ShoestringMariner:

Brake clean is good stuff, HOWEVER, it can be FATAL if it used it to clean metal as a preparation for welding as super-heating the chemical residues can create poison gasses.
Do yourself or your welder buddy a favor and read THIS http://www.brewracingframes.com/safety- … -gas.html3
before you clean anything for welding

Your URL is dead, this one seems to work: http://www.brewracingframes.com/safety-alert-brake-cleaner–phosgene-gas.html

Scary, ain’t it? But this one is raising some red flags for me..

For one thing, a search on "brake cleaner phosgene" gives quite a few hits, and there’s even a Popular Science (yuk yuk!) article about it. But ultimately, all of the articles appear to link back to +one+ single report, that was published in American Iron back in 2009. I’m not familiar with American Iron but I can infer that it’s probably a motorcycle-related publication, web-based or otherwise.

One thing it’s not is a refereed journal.. or even a known and trusted source of properly-researched content.

Then we have the fact that the article in question isn’t a scientific paper or other scholarly piece – it’s an anecdote – and apparently by an anonymous individual at that. Then there’s a problem with the science. The writer mentions that chlorinated solvent decomposes in the presence of extreme heat and an argon atmosphere – but a quick read of the ‘phosgene’ article on Wiki states that the phosgene decomposition reaction is actually driven by oxygen and UV light, quite a different set of circumstances.

What to make of that?

So anyway, I’m not saying that brake cleaner can’t be dangerous, it can.. even at standard temperature and pressure. But that said, it looks to me like we’re witnessing the birth of an urban legend.. and ultimately, the truth of the matter remains to be seen.