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Date: | Mon, 4 Dec 2006 12:48:42 -0500 |
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Bob Harrison wrote:
> Around two years ago beekeepers from Germany started reporting beekeepers
> using OA had contracted a rare from of cancer. All the same type of cancer.
> The last report I had heard was 6 had died. The update was on another list
> but could be found.
Vapor or drip? It sounds like vapor. I get more OA tending my rhubarb
patch than with the drip method.
I tried google to find anything on this and could not, but I did fine
lots of sites that recommended ingesting high amounts of OA to cure
cancer and almost every other aliment around. Same for formic. I would
not think of it.
If it is true, that it is a carcinogen and is the vapor method, it would
fit into a common (in chemistry) problem of a hazard that is not usually
a hazard when used in its normal state. I do not know of many uses of OA
as a vapor but many as a liquid. So the industries where it is used in
liquid form have lots of history on its long term problems. In that
state it is harmful but not know to be a major health issue.
Beekeepers are finding the long term problems when it is used as a
vapor. There were several posts on the immediate hazards of OA as a
vapor and they were dismissed since the manufacturer of the equipment
said it was safe to use that way. Problem is, we do not know the long
term hazards.
I recall, when I was in graduate work, of two researchers who died
working on what was considered a fairly safe chemical, but they were
working with it in the vapor state. They even used ventilation but still
were poisoned over a long period. My prof made sure I got the picture,
since I also was working on several chemicals that were in a vapor state
and normally solid.
Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine
-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l for rules, FAQ and other info ---
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