Anti-freeze
With the help of State Sen. Raymond Finney, Sevier County resident Haley Ham’s dream of keeping animals and young children safe from antifreeze poisoning may soon get a boost.
Or, you know, you could put the anti-freeze out of reach of children.
January 24th, 2008 at 11:06 am
Actually that is a brilliant idea. We basically do the same thing with natural gas, which would be odorless but for the aromatic hydrocarbons we mix in.
January 24th, 2008 at 11:46 am
It is leaking radiator fluid that frequently kills Fluffy and Spot out in the garage, without ill will or misconduct on anyone’s part. I have had to stop my dog from licking up spilled glycol during changes of radiator fluid; a bad taste would likely stop animals and kids from lapping the stuff off the floor. The comparison to the smelly scent added to natural gas is very apt, although that is done to increase the ability to detect the gas, not to prevent or inhibit inhalation. And if it stinks along with tasting bad, the additive will increase owner awareness of readiator leaks. I’d buy antifreeze with such an additive.
January 24th, 2008 at 11:47 am
Honestly, I would MUCH rather see legislation requiring that possession and distribution of anti-freeze be regulated by a federal agency. You should be of good moral character to possess such a dangerous chemical. Hmmm … perhaps you’d have to notify your state agency within 24 hours of spilling antifreeze on the floor of your garage? You know … it’s for the children and all.
January 24th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
If a manufacture decided to put a bittering agent in the antifreeze, and then advertise that fact, and then perhaps hike the cost of the stuff a few cents, I would voluntarily buy that brand over the others. Then the manufacturer could buy ads in say Dog Fancy to tout it’s brand superiority, and other brands would follow suit. After a few years of testing, we could be sure that the additive did not have any unforeseen drawbacks. Only then would I carefully consider a goverment mandate.
Or we could just roll with a knee-jerk goverment mandate like when California lead the nation in low-sulfur diesel at the pump. The process of removing the sulfur also removed lubrication that the injector pumps needed. It also removed some of the more volatile compounds in the mix that happened to keep the rubber gaskets soft and pliable. So you suddenly had a bunch of expensive-to-repair vehicles on the road leaking engine oil all over the pavement. Not exactly what the feel-good knee-jerk environmental regulations were shooting for.
January 24th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Yeah, it’s a good idea to make it less likely to poison kids and animals, but it shouldn’t be a government mandate.
And I hope the bitter stuff doesn’t interfere with my ability to make it into explosives.
January 24th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
“In TN, there’s a proposed law to add a bittering agent to anti-freeze so it doesn’t taste good to dogs and kids:”
Dogs: this is an animal that routinely licks it’s butt, and happily eats things that smell bad enough to make a normal person puke.
Kids: kids have been known to eat cleanser, matches, and drink kerosene. The only way to get them to not drink anti-freeze would be to flavor it with spinach.
January 24th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
There is a (or was) a form of anti-freeze that wasn’t harmful like the majority of the stuff. I can’t recall it’s name right now…
January 24th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Propylene glycol, though I can’t recall the brand name. It’s been out for a while and I haven’t heard anything too bad about it. Costs a bit more. I haven’t bought any antifreeze for a few years having scored a few bottles on sale, but I suppose I’ll give it a shot.
Wikipedia antifreeze
January 24th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
The bittering agent would make it harder to use ethylene glycol to poison somebody else — and that’s happened more than a few times. Anti-freeze in coke or sweet tea is undetectable.
January 24th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
I wonder if a person can add a bittering agent themselves…
January 24th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Now, Alcibiades, we can’t go adding personal responsibility to the equation when it’s easier to just pass a law.
January 24th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Sierra is the brand name.
January 24th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
“Anti-freeze in coke or sweet tea is undetectable.”
Not if you’re born and raised in Atlanta. We take Coke and sweet tea seriously.
January 24th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
“Or, you know, you could put the anti-freeze out of reach of children.”
That would require not so common, common sense Uncle.
January 24th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
Alciblades, I was thinking that same thing. At the liquor sto’ they sell stuff called “bitters”. I would imagine that you could easily bitter your own anti-freeze to protect fluffy from your leaky radiator.
January 24th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
BobG: snarf!
January 25th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
I understand it tastes more or less like sugar syrup. That would be undetectable to anyone from Atlanta, or Charleston SC.