" hillbilly3302" wrote in message
news:1066854521.103078@`ache3...
I have an old Heathkit Cantenna dummy load. how can I tell what its
filled
with, Transformer oil (pcb's) or Mineral oil... sounds silly but it
just
started leaking and I have oil all over the work bench... I went to a
paint
store and got another gallon can and that took care of the leak. hi , but
it was about half empty.

k5drc




The oil could be most anything, since the Cantenna was shipped dry, and the
buyer was instructed to fill it with mineral oil. What the PO really poured
in there is the real question. Since most consumers didn't have access to a
gallon of PCB (Monsanto's Arachlor), it likely isn't a PCB. But who knows?
One easy test is that a PCB won't burn, where engine oil or mineral oil
will. Wet a small piece of paper towel with the unknown oil, and try to
light it (away from the main body of oil!). If it won't burn, then its PCB.

Imagine the repercussions of knowing you had leaked a half-gallon of PCB in
your home. You have now created an official toxic spill, a hazardous site
which now must be properly decontaminated. If you think asbestos remediation
is bad news, just wait till the hazmat guys are into your PCB zone.
Remember, those PCB's love water, and they don't break down (short of oxygen
incineration), so you have a lot more than just a workbench that has to go.
You have got that stuff all over your hands, and your clothes. Where did you
wash your hands? Oops, now your bathroom is also contaminated. So's the rest
of your house. How did you wash your clothes? Looks like you'll be needing a
new washer / dryer. And where did that PCB contaminated laundry water go to?
Probably have to dig up your sewer pipes and haul them off too! Not to
mention that you have now contaminated your entire municipal sewerage
system! Get ready for some interesting fines and new legal exposure.

Did you shake hands with anybody lately? You've been spreading trace amounts
of PCB's everywhere. And what is the maximum allowable "safe" level of PCB
contamination? Parts per million? Parts per billion? You'll wish you were
dead. But even so, since PCB's also love fatty acids (they just love to hide
in the fat cells of your body), your carcass is also contaminated. You're a
walking toxic waste dump. You probably meet the criteria for needing an MSDS
just to drive to work. (Did I mention that you also have contaminated your
workplace?) So even an embalmer wouldn't want to touch you, and what
cemetery would accept an officially contaminated corpse?

Nope, looks like cremation is indicated. And I'll bet there's a wild
"Catch-22" waiting for you. I'll bet that a human crematory won't accept a
"toxic waste" contaminated corpse, and a toxic waste incinerator isn't
licensed to accept a human corpse. Gotcha! Maybe a Viking funeral?

Yep, them PCB's are officially nasty little chemicals. Just ask Dow
Chemical, who's still paying to dig up Hudson River mud and move it to
somewhere else that isn't the Hudson River (and that "somewhere else" is
another story).

Ed