Slightly off-topic, but I read once that a mix of tolulene and xylene performed better than either alone. Has anybody ever heard of anything like thing?

 

I wouldn't think that would be the case. On paper, Xylene has about 3 points better octane rating. In any case, it seems a 30% Xylene to 93 oct will give just over 100 oct. Do not run >30% of either Xylene or Toluene.

 

no man, that's not even good enough. If you're not wearing a respirator, you can give yourself blood poisoning pretty quick with this stuff. This is one of the WORST chemicals for brain damadge and nervous system disorders. I used to be a painter, our union's business agent just told us to REFUSE to work with the stuff. I don't even understand why they sell this stuff to the public. The fumes are WORSE for you than skin contact with xylene/tolulene. This stuff can cause damadge to your kids if you work with it and knock your wife up.

 

This is simply not true. Toluene is not recognized as mutagenic, and is relatively safe if properly handled.

You can read just about everything you wanted to know about it here:
http://www.worksafesask.ca/files/cco...fo/cie243.html

 

Ted, I wouldn't agree with some of the findings on that site, especially the finding about how toluene is absorbed through the skin slowly. Our local funded trials and reported that toluene can actually be tasted in your mouth if you have skin contact with toluene for more than three seconds. You have to consider, they didn't even consider benzene that harmful until recently, and now they know it's a killer. Did you see the part of your link that said overexposure to tolulene fumes can cause death in enclosed areas? or this part:

Eyes/Vision: Alterations in vision, for example, reduced acuity and suppressed colour vision, have been documented following exposure to mixed solvents.(3) It is not possible to attribute these effects to toluene directly.





Hearing: There is some evidence to suggest that long-term exposure to toluene may affect hearing.(3) However, the limited information available does not allow a conclusion to be drawn.Tolulene fumes can cause damadge to your hearing and vision!

I'm not trying to tell you that you're wrong, man, I'm just saying, most people that are going to mix this with their gas aren't doing it in a lab environment and are risking their health. Thanks for the link.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong on this, but isn't toluene already used in pump gas to boost octane? Again, while I can appreciate that toluene isn't good for you, I don't see how it's going to be that much worse than handling gasoline or paint thinner. As long as you are in a well ventilated area and keep it off your skin, you should be fine.

l8r)

 

I can taste DMSO in my mouth within a few seconds of tasting it, yet it poses no great health risk (unless its dirty).

As far as benzene, it is chronic exposure that creates the potential for carcinogenicity.

The fact is that many common organics and solvents can pose some degree of harm if improperly handled. A 55 gal drum with a bung-mounted hand-pump for dispensing is the preferred means of handling Toluene and/or many other solvents.

If you're going to go the 5 gal can route, if you handle it responsibly as you would gasoline, you should be fine.

 

I have done a fair amount of research on Toluene. One interesting fact that is often overlooked is the emissions side. Toluene in gas, when it burns completely, is no different than emissions from regular gas. Interestingly though, when you get incomplete combustion such as fuel dumping in our cars, you get very nasty emissions. Just a thought.
I can dig up the research if anyone is interested.

BTW, I have run Toluene in my car. I have stopped since as it was a pain doing a mix for every tank and, even though I wore latex gloves and had a creative nozzle that I fabricated for Toluene cans, I always felt like I inhaled a little too much during the fill process.

Good luck,

 

In Oregon it's illegal to pump your own gas, you have to let the attendant do it. Therefore, I am getting far less petrochemical exposure than most people, so a little handling of toluene isn't going to kill me