BBC Makes A Sludge Of It
Wingnut takes issue with the BBC's graphic of the chemical breakdown of Hungary's red sludge (scroll down).
"Iron oxide - 'Rust', gives sludge its red colour." They got that right.
"Aluminium oxide - Caused cancer when tested on animals." It's also pretty inert, so I suspect it causes cancer when inhaled as very fine particles and this is in suspension -- it's wet sludge. Aluminium oxide is used in food, toothpaste, sunscreen, sandpaper...
"Silicon dioxide - 'Silica'. Can cause lung diseases and cancer when inhaled as dust." Yeeees. Also known as sand. Again, the dust would have to be very fine. This is in suspension.
"Calcium oxide - 'Quicklime', can cause skin irritations, burns and sickness." They've got that one right, but it depends on the concentration. If you dilute it, the pH very quickly drops down towards 7.
"Titanium dioxide - caused cancer when tested on animals." Yeah, again, probably as a very fine powder. Because it's a white pigment also used in food products, toothpaste, paint, etc.
"Oxygen-bonded sodium oxide - Byproduct of aluminium process." No comment. [What, it doesn't cause cancer?! Ed.]
It wouldn't surprise me if they'd Googled "alumina MSDS" (Material Safety and Data Sheet) and followed the first link (PDF).
"Iron oxide - 'Rust', gives sludge its red colour." They got that right.
"Aluminium oxide - Caused cancer when tested on animals." It's also pretty inert, so I suspect it causes cancer when inhaled as very fine particles and this is in suspension -- it's wet sludge. Aluminium oxide is used in food, toothpaste, sunscreen, sandpaper...
"Silicon dioxide - 'Silica'. Can cause lung diseases and cancer when inhaled as dust." Yeeees. Also known as sand. Again, the dust would have to be very fine. This is in suspension.
"Calcium oxide - 'Quicklime', can cause skin irritations, burns and sickness." They've got that one right, but it depends on the concentration. If you dilute it, the pH very quickly drops down towards 7.
"Titanium dioxide - caused cancer when tested on animals." Yeah, again, probably as a very fine powder. Because it's a white pigment also used in food products, toothpaste, paint, etc.
"Oxygen-bonded sodium oxide - Byproduct of aluminium process." No comment. [What, it doesn't cause cancer?! Ed.]
It wouldn't surprise me if they'd Googled "alumina MSDS" (Material Safety and Data Sheet) and followed the first link (PDF).