When I was browsing through the HPI racing forums lately, I stumbled upon a topic called "Paint Removal" in the Paint and body forum. The person who had started this topic asked how he could remove the paint from his lexan car body when he made an error. I was shocked to hear that some people actually advised him to use RC Car Fuel to do this.

Admitted, the Nitromethane in the fuel is a very good paint solvent. So good actually, that if you used it in a pure form it would probably also solve the lexan. Nitromethane is used as a solvent in the industry. However, Nitromethane is toxic. Even worse: the Methanol used in RC car fuels is even more toxic. So, to use the Nitromethane to solve your paint, you are actually exposing yourself to a much larger amount of Methanol. Both fluids should not be inhaled, swallowed or come in contact with your skin.

The manufacturers of RC fuel don't put this lable (or alike) on your fuel canister for nothing:

Toxic	Higly flammable
Contains Methanol and Nitromethane. Toxic by inhalation and if swallowed. Keep out of reach of children. Keep container tightly closed. Keep away from sources of ignition. No smoking. Avoid contact with skin. In case of accident or if you feel unwell, seek medical advice immediately (show the label where possible)

I know people who have seen the effects of both Nitromethane and Methanol toxications whith their own eyes on seperate occasions. Since I know what effects these fluids can have on your health, and some people just don't care enough for their own (or others) health to read lables and take precautions, I wrote this article.

There is no reason to panic, but please spread this knowledge to anyone you know who is using RC car (or airplane) fuel, wether you think they know it or not. It's never stupid to be carefull with your health, and there is no such thing as being "too carefull" when handling these toxic fluids. Knowing what you are dealing with and acting upon that knowledge is the way to a healthy long life of racing.

For complete and thorough information about chemical specifications, health issues, first aid, fire fighting, governmental regulations and other information see MSDS sheet on Methyl Alcohol (a.k.a. Methanol).

What is it?

Methanol is the simplest alcohol, containing one carbon atom (chemical formula: CH3OH). It is a colorless, tasteless liquid with a very faint odor and is commonly known as "wood alcohol."

In real-size cars, methanol's physical and chemical characteristics result in several inherent advantages as an automotive fuel. Emissions from methanol cars are low in reactive hydrocarbons (which form smog) and in toxic compounds. Methanol-fueled trucks and buses emit almost no particulate matter (which cause smoke and odor, and can also be carcinogenic), and much less nitrogen oxides than their diesel-fueled counterparts. Methanol can be manufactured from a variety of carbon-based feedstocks such as natural gas, coal, and biomass (e.g., wood). Furthermore, use of methanol would diversify the country's fuel supply and reduce its dependence on imported petroleum.

Methanol s also much less flammable than gasoline and results in less severe fires when it does ignite. Because of its outstanding performance and fire safety characteristics, methanol is the only fuel used in Indianapolis-type race cars.

Methanol is used in a number of consumer products, including paint strippers, duplicator fluid, model airplane fuel, and dry gas. Most windshield washer fluids are 50 percent methanol.

Is Methanol Poisonous?

Yes. As with many other fuels, methanol can be highly toxic and should never be taken orally. A few teaspoons of methanol can cause blindness and a few tablespoons can be fatal, if the exposure is not treated. Methanol is a hydroscopic substance which can enter the human body through the skin. Chronical exposure of the skin to methanol (direct contact) can cause the same effects as a few teaspoons taken orally. The toxication process through the skin is a more gradual process, often not noticed until the methanol has severely conteminated the blood. Total dialization is needed to remove the methanol from the blood, on some occasions the blood is completely replaced by donor blood.

It should be noted that the human body can metabolize and eliminate low concentrations of methanol with no ill effects. (Methanol is present in many cooked vegetables, and the artificial sweetener in diet soft drinks breaks down into methanol during digestion.) Methanol becomes poisonous only when it overwhelms the body's capacity to remove it. Toxic effects do not occur until several hours after exposure. Effective antidotes to methanol poisoning are readily available and can be administered during this interim period.

Methanol and your body

Fire safety

Methanol burns 25 percent as fast as gasoline and methanol fires release heat at only one-eighth the rate of gasoline fires. Pure methanol burns with a light blue flame that is not easily seen in bright sunlight. A chemical could be mixed with methanol fuel to provide flame luminosity. Research is under way to identify potential additives.

Methanol can ignite at ambient temperatures in enclosed spaces such as fuel tanks.

For complete and thorough information about chemical specifications, health issues, first aid, fire fighting, governmental regulations and other information see MSDS sheet on Nitromethane.

What is it?

Nitromethane is a fuel which contains it's own oxygen (chemical formula: CH3NO2). Because of this, Nitromethane uses less oxygen from the air while burning, and is hard to put out. Another side effect of the oxygen contained it the fuel is that the fuel has to burn before the oxygen is released. This causes Nitromethane to have a long combustion when used in an engine (often combustion is still ngoing when the exhaust port is opened, giving Nitro powered engines those extra decibels.)

Because of it's lengthy combustion, and the contained oxygen, Nitromethane is used by drag racers to be able to put more fuel in the engine (less air is needed, so the mixture can be made rich). An engine is actually running leaner with more Nitromethane put in it, because of the oxygen it takes with it.

It's the nitro that gives the header flames of these dragsters (should you have a chance to see them make a run in the dark) that yellow-green glow. In the dark you can actualy see how long the Nitromethane is burning after it's left the engine. header flames of some 10 feet high are not rare.

Dangers

It is necessary to know the dangers involved with the use of nitromethane mixtures so that the necessary precautions can be taken. This will reduce the dangers to a degree that makes the use of such fuels acceptable. Provided you know the dangers and take precautions you can work with these fuels and come to no harm.

Is Nitromethane Poisonous?

After combustion, mixtures containing nitromethane generate relatively large amounts of nitric acid in vapor form. When running large ammounts of Nitromethane (for instance in a full-sized top-fuel drag race car), the use of a proper gas mask is essential. Gas masks should be used by the driver, and those close to the car in the start area (drag-race speaking). The ammounts of Nitromethane used in model race cars are generally much lower, both due to mixture (25% in stead of 99%), and fuel usage (150cc in a few nminutes stead of a several-gallon tank in a few seconds).

The reason for the gas mask is that nitric acid, when inhaled, causes a muscular reaction making it impossible to breathe. Little imagination is required to see the dangers involved with this possible event taking place, and in fact there have been cases of drivers becoming almost unconscious due to the bad fitting of face masks.

Nitromethane and your body

Fire safety

There is a generally held view that with nitro-methane mixtures the fire risk is increased, but this is not so.

You can easily test and see the flamability if gasoline, methanol and nitromethane if you have access to all three. Please be carefull when doing these tests. Keep fuel canisters away from flames and make sure you have thought about fire precations. Never ignite fuel within your house, allways do these tests outdoors.

• Take a small amount of petrol, about one teaspoonful say, and place in a small tin lid and then ignite. It will catch fire almost with a bang.
• Now take the same amount of methanol and after the tin has cooled down, repeat the exercise observing the almost lazy manner in which it ignites, burning with a blue colour, the edges of the flame lined in places in yellow and orange.
• Now take the same amount of nitro-methane, 98 per cent if you like, and repeat the experiment and see how difficult it is to ignite, burning with a green tinted flame in a reluctant manner.

The differences you have noticed is due to the respective flash points of the three fuels, petrol being the lowest at between zero and 40 degrees F. approximately, methanol at 67 Degrees F., and nitromethane at 110 degrees F.

In other words with petrol you have a major fire risk and far less so with nitromethane mixtures. The real problem with nitromethane is its ability to release high power, especially when ignited in a confined space. Associated with this is its liability to be affected by shock. Dropping a can of nitromethane will not cause an explosion, as the can, due to its construction of light weight material, will not have sufficient rigidity, but an amount in a very solid thick-walled container may.

Please note that because Nitromethane contains it's own oxigen which is released while it burns, it is hard to put out when it ignites. Nitromethane is best put out with a haze of water or foam. When fire fighting burning fluids with water, never spray direct into the burning fluid. You may cause it to spread and cause a bigger fire instead of stopping it.

One final note of warning concerning burning nitromethane and methanol is that they can burn almost unseen in daylight

Nitromethane explosion

There are three main possible causes of nitromethane becoming shock sensitive and they are as follows:

• The use of hydrazine as an additive, which, be it noted, is barred by regulations in most countries for that very reason.
• The use of caustic soda or any other alkaline, used for cleaning out a tank or fuel lines.
• Alloy tanks, which before anodizing, have been cleaned with such a substance and have retained a small deposit.

To avoid any such possible troubles the tank must be filled with water and 10 per cent vinegar, plus a little ordinary household washing-up liquid, and left to soak for several days.

Conclusion

Well, actually there is no conclusion but to be carefull.

Sources for this article include some internet sites on chemicals, some encyclopedia and information from friends. I hope this article isn't too big of a bother to read (I even threw in a little experiment to spice up things).

Let's live a healthy, peacefull, competative, long life and make lots of laps.

Race on!
Rolf