Is smoke fluid more hazardous then we think?

use this smoke it dissipates fast and does not leave much residue.

http://www.megasteam.com/

I find smoke annoying and don't bother with it.  I'll test the smoke unit just to see if it works when I buy a locomotive, then turn it off.

Rusty

Yeah I thought so too but like KevinB said its not regulated by the EPA yet.

But I still wonder if there are some lingering issues with it.

I think as long as you don't live in California your OK. Everything in California causes cancer.

hahahahahahaha very funny! LOL!

Very Very true BLT!

Lung diseases are only the beginning.I think if the oil residue as the smoke settles out finds its way outside on our shoes or clothing, not to mention the old bottles in landfills, could then end up in rain runoff into lakes and streams killing the fish.What of the other birds and such that feed on the fish? 

 Interesting this is being brought up cause I have been coughing this morning with really thick phlegm. It took this post for me to put it all together now. In the past I have had allergy symptoms after a smoke session and last night i ran trains with a few friends for 4-5 hours (it was alot of fun) and at one point I had 7 legacy/vision steam engines and a couple dd35a running and the smoke was pouring out and even using mega-steam it was still cloudy to the point I had to open a window and let some 12 degree air in the room. I just called and asked one of my friends that was here how he was feeling today he said not bad but my throats a little sore so I called the other 3 and same thing throats a little sore. So as it maybe coincidence it also may not be either. How do you know for sure cause I sure love my vision whistle and steam chest emissions. Then again letting the cold air in and having a few beers may have contributed also?

 I nor my friends smoke cigarettes or cigars so cant blame that. I would love to find out if it is indeed toxic in vapor form. I guess you could take a rat and cage him in a plexi-glass cage and expose him to the smoke vapor's in large quantity's. But I'll leave that to the EPA to conduct I don't want to go that far but I would like to find out.

If the illegal smoke we inhaled many years ago did not kill us, I guess this smoke is no different. It just doesn't have that same smell from the stack that came from the pipes! 

i am looking at a lawsuite against the smoke company's for i think i have lung issues because of it.

Very interesting thoughts my friends! Rick you make a good point. Although I think that kind of scenario you mentioned would be from large quantities of smoke fluid.

Although, I have always wondered what happens to the chemical composition of the smoke fluid vapor once it disappears. Meaning once the white vapor (the part we see) disappears where does it go? It obviously stays in the air but where does it go from there? I would not be surprised if it condenses again and settles into the floor rugs and seeps into the walls. In fact the track gets the fluid on it and becomes grimy.

I think the key is moderation and common sense.

Kent in SD

Mike,

Are you as concerned about the Mercury in that bass you have in your avatar?

Paralysis by analysis has been replaced by paralysis by green!

I think second hand loco smoke will cause your lungs to chug once per revolution with no ability to adjust the frequency.  I see a big class action suit coming. 

This topic comes up every couple of months, and it's always the same tired old stuff put forth. The original poster asks and then folks chime in with NO REAL KNOWLEDGE of what they are talking about and spew forth a bunch of supposition and thoughts based on nothing more then what they feel. I run all my steam engines set to max smoke settings and I feel relaxed after a run session not coughing and hacking up phlegm. Smoke fluid has been around long enough that if it was even possible to be harmful to our health, an intelligent person would think that the government that controls every aspect of our lives (or wants to), would have issued warnings by now.

I don't care for liquid smoke units at all.

Smoke fluid is some sort of oil, so it seems likely to me that the smoke is vaporized oil. It doesn't seem to be a good idea to breathe in vaporized oil, and I certainly don't want it depositing on the various surfaces inside my home, including my trains.

I don't have as much concern with smoke pellets because I think their smoke solidifies into fine dust, which our noses filter, and can easily be "dusted" away.

Our train smoke is a vapor containing mineral oil lipids, which when inhaled in an enclosed, poorly ventilated space, could possibly cause pulmonary symptoms, including distress for those prone to asthma.

Always adequately VENTILATE the room in which you are using the more copious smoke producing engines!

You should be more concerned about what is in our foods we eat than any negative health effects of a little smoke fluid

Thanks for the explanation my friend. I was really just asking what everyone thought about it and it seems to me I got more sarcastic and ignorant answers than plain explanations.

Anyways, yeah like I said in the original post I never have any symptoms towards the smoke fluid vapor and I think its great but I was wondering if it can cause anything to occur health wise. Tinplate Art explained it very well.

Thanks.

When my 12 year old runs the trains this is what usually goes on....

Nobody has gotten sick yet !!!

It's not really smoke - it's vapor from heated mineral oil. It's harmless, of course.

Well, in most of the world. Here, it's gonna kill da babies.

breathing fumes of any petroleum distillate isn't that great for you.  but in the amounts we are talking about, most people will not be bothered - at least in any way that can be corollated with the train smoke.  that's because the body is pretty good at eliminating toxins it inhales or ingests: maybe a little sore throat if you overdo it, no biggie.  however, everybody's body chemistry is different.  some people, for whatever reason, are more sensitive.  i am one of these: my doctor just last week referred to me as one of the "canaries in the coal mine", getting sick from low levels of toxins before others do.  inhaling smoke from train smoke fluid makes me quite ill, almost immediately - as does a lot of other things (forget spray painting).  is my detox system not working as well?  unfortunately, no one really knows.

so one person says 'no problem', another says 'problem' - they both may be right - for themselves.  do what's right for you.

my layout is under construction at the moment so i'm not making any smoke.  but i'm going to experiment when the trains are up and running.   my wife uses "essential oils" - 100% pure plant oil derived from various plants, and they each have a different smell.  they have about the same very-light-oil consistency as smoke fluid, but there is no petroleum in them at all - just distilled plant oil.  (the scented smoke fluid may be scented with a plant oil like cedar, but the base is distilled petrol.)  of course, whether the plant "essential oils" will destroy the smoke units is another question. 

Heated mineral oil eh---have you tried pouring some of your own into a locomotive....

Check this out

Anything in excess is probably not good for you, that’s why I keep all my smoke units set on low and use Mega Steam fluid.

As a vaporized petroleum based distillate, smoke can certainly trigger vasomotor mediated bronchospasm (read - asthma) in people who are susceptibile, in exactly the same way some people are triggered by dust, diesel fumes, perfumes, other chemical irritants, exercise, cold, or hot, muggy weather.   These are short term effects, and subside once the offending agent is removed, or the offending environment is vacated.  As far as long term effects, I'm of a tendency to strongly believe there are none, nor will be any.

PS - RickO's answer was tongue-in-cheek

MSDS?

MSDS=Material Safety Data Sheet

Good explanation Mark. I appreciate the information. I agree it does seem in long term effects that smoke fluid vapor won't do anything but I can just imagine what it must be like for a person with asthma.

Thanks for the tip I miss read RickO's answer. I was just asking for a simple answer not a sarcastic one. Seems to me like there are a lot of people on this forum who like to play games all the time on the discussion posts.

Funny how you change as you grow older.
As a kid I loved the smell of diesel smoke and the smell of oak burning in a fire.
I don't know if it was all the years smelling the diesel coming out of the power company trucks we worked closely around but now I get sick on my stomach with just a little wif of diesel or wood smoke. I bought the scented Mega Steam oils but I can't smell the scent, just the oil.
I wish I could run the engines with the smoke on but it bothers me to much.

David

Just don't inhale!

TomB

I really have to laugh when I read threads like this.  ****, almost everything in our daily lives is hazardous to our health!  I seriously doubt that model train smoke will be my undoing!

I'm in agreement with gunrunner john's statement above. With all due respect to you and your thread pennsypride it just seems that as the "well of new o-guage material" dries up in between catalogs and product deliveries these threads come up. Smoke of any kind causing issues for an asthmatic is a given. Too much smoke of any kind in an enclosed room will bother anyone....also a given. I'm not playing games but lets be realistic here. One could easly mistake you as playing games or being sarcastic with questions regarding a topic that can answered with a little thought.We could debate exposures to everything all day long,this hobby is the least of our problems, lets enjoy it.

well said RickO. I am not being sarcastic about this discussion at all and was just looking for opinions. I had no idea that this kind of question has been mentioned before. Heck I have not been on the forum 6 months I think.

Look;Let's face it there are more things in the world to kill us then keep us alive.Air we breath,food,solvants ect. What it boils down to is common sence and moderaition. I have a bathroom type fan in my train room that I have exaust to the outside like a dryer vent. I for the most part I keep the smoke on low and if it starts to bother me even a little I shut the smoke off. Megasteam has been the best for me. It does not hang in the air like some smoke fluids out there. Not too much of a good thing and I think we'll be OK.

I'm a recovering smoke pill user. I'm now on the patch. Pray for me.

ditto