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Front page headline from the July 12, 2004 edition of the New York Post! Positive proof that antifreeze is poison! While journalistic decorum prevents us from sharing the text of the Post article here, we can nonetheless express our own views on ethylene glycol - the basic ingredient of automotive antifreeze.
And so, we hereby present, "Down With Ethylene Glycol"! You should beware, however, that the article on this web page was written by a somewhat eccentric air-cooled engine enthusiast! <grin>
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Down With Ethylene Glycol! by Allan V.
Lacki. Do you ever
wonder whatever happens to all that ETHYLENE GLYCOL? You know, that
"antifreeze" stuff they put in car engines today?
Ten million cars and trucks are sold in the United States every year. And
every one of them has an engine cooled with ethylene glycol! Assuming one
gallon of this noxious chemical per vehicle, this means at least 10 million
NEW gallons of ethylene glycol are brought into the world every year, just for
cars and trucks sold in America.
Assuming people have been using ethylene
glycol since 1950, that means 500 million gallons of ethylene glycol have been
pumped into environment right here in the good old USA! And let's not forget
that every one of these vehicles gets its cooling system flushed at least once
in its lifetime, so you can double that figure. Easily, ONE BILLION GALLONS
of ethylene glycol have been manufactured to-date! That's about enough to
fill Lake Superior!
And where does this noxious liquid end up after all the cars and trucks seize
their last journal bearings? Into the eco-system! It drips out of the
radiators upon the fertile junkyard soil, slowly seeping into the streams and
aquifers, leading to the rivers and oceans, killing off the plankton that feed
the fishies, until finally, the entire food chain is destroyed!
Using the most clandestine of methods, I acquired an official Industrial
Hygiene, Toxicology, and Material Safety Data Sheet pertaining to this
offensive green slime. Unfortunately for us disciples of air-cooled engines,
ethylene glycol is not rated as a true "hazardous waste", like Dioxin or
Plutonium. (I was hoping we could enlist Al Gore to help us outlaw cars with
liquid-cooled engines immediately...)
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Shown above: Larry Claypool, rear engine car enthusiast from the Chicago area, owns this pristine Russian ZAZ, equipped with a rear engine air-cooled 966 cc V-4. Who said the Soviets didn't care about the environment? Click here for a better view.
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But dig this: According to the official data sheet, ethylene glycol has produced birth defects in rodents! Furthermore, it's harmful or fatal if swallowed. It's chemical components, namely 1,2-ethanediol, phosphoric acid, and sodium hydroxide, are "hazardous according to OSHA (1910.1200) or one or more state Right-to-Know lists". Ethylene glycol "has teratogenic, mutagenic or other toxic effects". And, yes, ethylene glycol "reacts violently with...strong oxidizers"(!?!)
Who knows how many mutant transmogrifications have been suffered by poor
creatures in the fragile Animal Kingdom due to ethylene glycol exposure? Did
you ever notice that the ray beams coming out of Godzilla's mouth are the
same exact color as automotive anti-freeze? And what about that Deadly
West Nile Virus?
Did you know that the state environmental laws in New Jersey are now so strict
that, even if you spill a mere drop of gasoline while filling up your lawn
mower, YOU--Mr. John Q. Private Citizen--are legally obligated to call in and
report this crime to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
within fifteen minutes??!! WOW!
Well, if it's such a crime to drip a little gasoline on your driveway, just
imagine how heinous it is to pour ONE BILLION GALLONS of ethylene glycol into
the eco-system!
Air-cooled engine enthusiasts, we must strike while the iron is hot! The
citizens of the planet are in a crazed-feeding-shark-environmental-protection
frenzy, and the politicos are responding by outlawing everything in sight!
Even Bosco is under suspicion! Write to your local Congressmen now! DOWN
WITH ETHYLENE GLYCOL!