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Burning wood in the house
In article ,
Spider wrote: Also be very careful that you don't burn laurel (the prunus type) indoors. It gives off cyanide fumes, as it will in the garden so always stand upwind from it. Really? That sounds most implausible. Hydrogen cyanide is extremely flammable, with a flash point of -17.78 degrees Celsius and an autoignition temperature of only 538 degrees Celsius. http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/healthguide...cognition.html Obviously, don't burn it under circumstances where you might be at risk from carbon monoxide, because hydrogen cyanide is even more toxic, but LOTS of the Rosaceae contain quite a lot of cyanides and Prunus laurocerasus isn't as extreme as people think. Every time I shred my Cotoneaster franchetti, there is a strong smell of bitter almonds, for example :-) Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
#2
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Burning wood in the house
wrote in message ... In article , Spider wrote: Also be very careful that you don't burn laurel (the prunus type) indoors. It gives off cyanide fumes, as it will in the garden so always stand upwind from it. Really? That sounds most implausible. Hydrogen cyanide is extremely flammable, with a flash point of -17.78 degrees Celsius and an autoignition temperature of only 538 degrees Celsius. It is, as you know, a well-documented fact that laurel (prunus laurocerasus) contains hydrogen cyanide. When put on a domestic fire - indoors or outdoors - it will usually smoulder for some time before catching fire. Certainly, when the cyanide gas catches fire, it will be burnt off, but until then it will rise in the warm air and disperse. Outdoors, one can stand upwind and hope to avoid it but, I for one would not want to risk breathing that contaminated air indoors in a confined space. Unfortunately, my ex-fireman father is not available for a couple of days, but I will discuss this with him when next we speak. It is just possible that being brought up as the daughter of a fireman, I am a little paranoid :~), but I would rather be paranoid than dead. http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/healthguide...cognition.html Obviously, don't burn it under circumstances where you might be at risk from carbon monoxide, because hydrogen cyanide is even more toxic, but LOTS of the Rosaceae contain quite a lot of cyanides and Prunus laurocerasus isn't as extreme as people think. Every time I shred my Cotoneaster franchetti, there is a strong smell of bitter almonds, for example :-) Regards, Nick Maclaren. Thanks for the link, btw, most interesting. Spider |
#3
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Burning wood in the house
In article ,
Spider wrote: It is, as you know, a well-documented fact that laurel (prunus laurocerasus) contains hydrogen cyanide. When put on a domestic fire - indoors or outdoors - it will usually smoulder for some time before catching fire. Certainly, when the cyanide gas catches fire, it will be burnt off, but until then it will rise in the warm air and disperse. Outdoors, one can stand upwind and hope to avoid it but, I for one would not want to risk breathing that contaminated air indoors in a confined space. Unfortunately, my ex-fireman father is not available for a couple of days, but I will discuss this with him when next we speak. As I said, that holds for most of the Rosaceae, and in particular most of the Prunus genus. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
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