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Comment by Robotbeat | Hacker News Reader

Gasoline has around 2% Benzene in it, by the way. That’s 20,000ppm vs 6ppm for the worst offenders here. Crazy we let teenagers pump this stuff and then the rest of us just breathe in the fumes.

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Where did you get the 2% figure from? The EPA says "[t]he national benzene content of gasoline today is about 1.0 vol%"[0]. Not that 1% is much better but I'm still curious where your figure comes from.

[0]: https://www.epa.gov/gasoline-standards/gasoline-mobile-sourc...

Benzene is a bit denser than gasoline, so volumetric vs mass vs molar basis aren’t directly comparable. This EPA slide deck [0] has ~1.25% by volume equated with ~1.5% by mass towards the conclusion slide. Interestingly it used to be around 5% benzene by volume before the newest standard.

So 2% on a molar basis doesn’t seem obviously inconsistent with 1 vol%

[0]: https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2021-03/documents...

I can't tell if this is sarcasm. Anyway, I think my exposure to gasoline is higher than to sunscreen.

Not sarcasm. After driving electric for a while (used are affordable... at least until the last couple months when the price of used cars went through the roof), the smell of gasoline seems especially pungent.

Funny you say that because I specially like the smell of gasoline, kind of like smell of glue or diesel exhaust. I know, kind of weird but I know a lot of other people who are in the same boat.

I've heard but cannot verify that eating more potassium will make it smell bad again. That is, that a mineral deficiency may cause some things to smell good that otherwise wouldn't.

Funny how seemingly unrelated stuff tells you something as fundamental as this about someone. I wonder what other deep secrets about our lives we're exposing that we're completely unaware of by just being ourselves.

I know someone who had an intensely positive reaction to wet, musky smells (think basements, dirt, old carpets, that sort of thing). Their doctor put them on vitamins for a separate issue and the attraction went completely away.

Some people are actually turned on by the smell of gasoline somehow

There's a relevant line from the book "Generation X" about gasoline: "Isn't the smell of gasoline great? Close your eyes and inhale. So clean. It smells like the future."

(The 1991 book "Generation X" is what popularized the term "Generation X", for those who didn't know there was a book.)

And some brands/products even have a 70% Std.Dev... seems to be more manufacturing inconsistency and bad quality control.

Pretty sure age is a big factor. The components of many sunscreens (non mineral) break down into benzene. They recommend throwing out your unused sunscreen after every year.

Sorry to ask, but did you have a source for this?

https://phys.org/news/2017-06-sunscreen-creams-dangerous-che...

Thank you for this. This guide mentions that it breaks down when exposed to chlorinated water and UV light -- NOT that sunscreen breaks down in storage over time, which is what I was personally concerned about.

I can't seem to find the article I saw a couple months ago. Here's one on room temperature storage for 1 year. This accelerates if left in a hot car or similar environment.

https://thecanadian.news/2021/03/08/a-suspected-carcinogenic...

One day I had to siphon the gasoline out of my car for some work....and I ended up with gasoline in my mouth

This is why you should live as far away from a gas station as you can!

Gas stations already have fume extractors though.

Not universally, here in Colorado it's 20/80 with/without.

Yeah but hopefully you don't rub that stuff all over your face and just pump it into your car.

I frequently get some on my hands when filling the mower or doing similar tasks.

Touching the funnel or the pour spout. Sometimes troubleshooting engines, sometimes spilling at the station.

I don't use sunscreen often, and I'd guess I've touched gasoline more frequently than sunscreen in my life.

I got a bunch all over me while working on the jetski this weekend. Whee

It's important to keep in mind the exposure frequency, with sunscreen some people use it daily or more.

huge and freaky brah

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