I spilled about 0.5 g of mixed palladium and platinum black, which had been precipitated with formic acid, in a hard-to-access area in my house. I wiped up what I could but I believe there is still some present. I know PGM black isn't really flammable on its own but can catalyze ignition of flammable substances at room temperature. If you were me, would you be worried about fire, or is this a remote risk? And how difficult is it to get flammable material to ignite at room temperature with PGM black anyway?
Spilled mixed palladium/platinum black - fire hazard?
- Thread starter Stibnut
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First off.... you need to stop refining in your house, especially with PGM's.
I can't speak to whether it reacts with certain compounds at ambient conditions, but in a catalytic converter it requires lots of heat/oxygen to work.
By the way, I've dumped my share of PM's powders over the years and it does suck.
I can't speak to whether it reacts with certain compounds at ambient conditions, but in a catalytic converter it requires lots of heat/oxygen to work.
By the way, I've dumped my share of PM's powders over the years and it does suck.
Martijn
Well-known member
PGM in powder form is not very healthy if i'm correct.
Think about that first rather than the fire hazard imo.
Go see a doctor tell him what happened and let him do a check for heavy metals, now and in some time again.
This is the reason refining should not be done in a house! Accidents can even leave your whole house uninhabitable. Where will you sleep and will your wife accept that?
Does your house need to be sanitized?
You can store melted pm's in house, but that's it. Nothing else!
I see a lot of pictures and video's of people working in a rental home, poisoning a room and then leaving it for the next tenants.
How did this spill happen? For us all to learn from.
Think about that first rather than the fire hazard imo.
Go see a doctor tell him what happened and let him do a check for heavy metals, now and in some time again.
This is the reason refining should not be done in a house! Accidents can even leave your whole house uninhabitable. Where will you sleep and will your wife accept that?
Does your house need to be sanitized?
You can store melted pm's in house, but that's it. Nothing else!
I see a lot of pictures and video's of people working in a rental home, poisoning a room and then leaving it for the next tenants.
How did this spill happen? For us all to learn from.
To be clear, I had not been refining in the house but rather outside. Still not as safe as having a fume hood, but better at least. I stored the metal from my only attempt at PGM refining in the house though, and I obviously stored it very improperly. I did this several months ago and have no desire to attempt PGM refining again - it's obviously far too dangerous for my crude setup.
It was a stupid mistake. I left a beaker containing the 0.5 g of mixed PGMs as the black powder (they had been thoroughly washed and no salts were present) in a beaker with a watchglass on it, on top of an old computer on a wire shelf filled with other random things. It was right next to some homemade soap. This morning, I realized I was out of soap in the shower, so I went over and reached for the soap but knocked over the beaker, which fell to the shelf below, spilling a small amount of PGM powder onto various items on that shelf and the floor below.
My impression of the safety of PGM metal dust is that it does not have anything like the toxicity of the salts - it's fairly similar to other metal dusts in being a problem in high concentrations or for long periods of time, but a small amount of spilled dust is unlikely to cause problems. I'm very happy to be corrected about this though.
It was a stupid mistake. I left a beaker containing the 0.5 g of mixed PGMs as the black powder (they had been thoroughly washed and no salts were present) in a beaker with a watchglass on it, on top of an old computer on a wire shelf filled with other random things. It was right next to some homemade soap. This morning, I realized I was out of soap in the shower, so I went over and reached for the soap but knocked over the beaker, which fell to the shelf below, spilling a small amount of PGM powder onto various items on that shelf and the floor below.
My impression of the safety of PGM metal dust is that it does not have anything like the toxicity of the salts - it's fairly similar to other metal dusts in being a problem in high concentrations or for long periods of time, but a small amount of spilled dust is unlikely to cause problems. I'm very happy to be corrected about this though.
I'm sure there's a real chemist here that has far more knowledge on this topic then I do.
I'm sure PGM's could react with some gases/compounds, but I doubt the conditions in that space would be conducive for that reaction to happen.... but, I could be wrong.
*edited for clarity*
I'm sure PGM's could react with some gases/compounds, but I doubt the conditions in that space would be conducive for that reaction to happen.... but, I could be wrong.
*edited for clarity*
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