DO IT YOURSELF TIRE BALLAST

RET · Apr 24, 2002

I make a few hundred million pounds per year of propylene glycol for a living at a large chemical plant. Next door, ethylene glycol is produced. The enviro friendly antifreeze is made from propylene glycol. It is indeed safe as everyone of you will eat some today - it's an additive in a lot of the food and medicines you eat.
Ethylene glycol is a poison if consumed.
Both are biodegradeable, but propylene glycol degrades faster. Ethylene glycol is a little slower and produces some intermediate aldehyde type decomposition products that eventually also decompose.
R

John_Mc · Apr 25, 2002

<font color=blue>Seems to me the classification of anti-freeze as "poison" is a bit over-hyped.... Anyone tried to get rid of stray cats, pesky racoons, woodchucks, or possums using anti-freeze? If it works, it would be tempting to try it. I doubt it will work.</font color=blue>

Yes, it does work. A couple of farmers near where I used to live used to leave a small pan of it near ground hog holes. They'd come up and eat it like candy, and be dead the next day. They had to be careful that all of their dogs/cats were locked up so they could not get to it. A neighbor's dog got very sick from licking up spilled antifreeze from the ground under a leaking car... fortunately, it was not enough to kill it.

John Mc

RanchMan · Apr 25, 2002

Just to pull along side as "wingman" -- Got this from the American Veterinary Medical Association web site.

<font color=green>It takes only about 1/2 teaspoon per pound for a dog to get a toxic dose of ethylene glycol, the active ingredient in antifreeze, and less for a cat. Although the poison affects both the animal's neurological and kidney function, the most severe damage usually involves the kidneys. Clinical signs in affected animals include depression, incoordination, vomiting, and seizures.

There is currently a new product on the market (one trade name is Sierra™) which claims to be safer than other brands of antifreeze. This product contains propylene glycol as its active ingredient. If ingested, it can still cause the nervous system injury resulting in incoordination and possibly seizures but does not cause the more frequently fatal kidney damage.</font color=green>

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.avma.org/pubhlth/poisgde.asp>http://www.avma.org/pubhlth/poisgde.asp</A>

Egon · Apr 26, 2002

John:
Many years ago I managed to spill some antifreeze on a grassy area while doing some repairs to my truck. Nothing grew in that spot for years.

Egon