Editing Gasoline (section)

==Safety==
[[File:DOT hazmat class 3 (alt 3).svg|thumb|HAZMAT class 3 gasoline]]

===Toxicity===
The [[safety data sheet]] for a 2003 [[Texas|Texan]] unleaded gasoline shows at least 15 hazardous chemicals occurring in various amounts, including [[benzene]] (up to five percent by volume), [[toluene]] (up to 35 percent by volume), [[naphthalene]] (up to one percent by volume), [[1,2,4-Trimethylbenzene|trimethylbenzene]] (up to seven percent by volume), [[Methyl tert-butyl ether|methyl ''tert''-butyl ether]] (MTBE) (up to 18 percent by volume, in some states), and about 10 others.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://firstfuelbank.com/msds/Tesoro.pdf |title=Material safety data sheet |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928104058/http://firstfuelbank.com/msds/Tesoro.pdf|archive-date=28 September 2007 |work=Tesoro petroleum Companies, Inc., U.S. |date=8 February 2003}}</ref> Hydrocarbons in gasoline generally exhibit low acute toxicities, with [[LD50]] of 700–2700&nbsp;mg/kg for simple aromatic compounds.<ref>Karl Griesbaum et al. "Hydrocarbons" in Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry 2005, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim. {{doi|10.1002/14356007.a13_227}}</ref> Benzene and many antiknocking additives are [[carcinogenic]].

People can be exposed to gasoline in the workplace by swallowing it, breathing in vapors, skin contact, and eye contact. Gasoline is toxic. The [[National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health]] (NIOSH) has also designated gasoline as a carcinogen.<ref>{{cite web |title=CDC – NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards – Gasoline |url=https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npg/npgd0299.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016080051/http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npg/npgd0299.html |archive-date=16 October 2015 |access-date=3 November 2015 |website=www.cdc.gov |df=dmy-all}}</ref> Physical contact, ingestion, or inhalation can cause health problems. Since ingesting large amounts of gasoline can cause permanent damage to major organs, a call to a local poison control center or emergency room visit is indicated.<ref>{{Cite journal |author=E Reese and R D Kimbrough |date=December 1993 |title=Acute toxicity of gasoline and some additives |journal=Environmental Health Perspectives |volume=101 |issue=Suppl 6 |pages=115–131 |doi=10.1289/ehp.93101s6115 |pmc=1520023 |pmid=8020435}}</ref>

Contrary to [[common misconception]], swallowing gasoline does not generally require special emergency treatment, and inducing vomiting does not help, and can make it worse. According to poison specialist Brad Dahl, "even two mouthfuls wouldn't be that dangerous as long as it goes down to your stomach and stays there or keeps going". The U.S. [[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention|CDC]]'s [[Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry]] says not to induce vomiting, [[lavage]], or administer [[Activated carbon|activated charcoal]].<ref>{{Citation |author=University of Utah Poison Control Center |title=Dos and Don'ts in Case of Gasoline Poisoning |date=24 June 2014 |url=https://healthcare.utah.edu/the-scope/shows.php?shows=0_g9tzppx4 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108090627/https://healthcare.utah.edu/the-scope/shows.php?shows=0_g9tzppx4 |publisher=[[University of Utah]] |access-date=15 October 2018 |archive-date=8 November 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |author=Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry |title=Medical Management Guidelines for Gasoline (Mixture) CAS# 86290-81-5 and 8006-61-9 |date=21 October 2014 |url=https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/MMG/MMG.asp?id=465&tid=83 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114004205/https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/MMG/MMG.asp?id=465&tid=83 |publisher=[[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]] |access-date=13 December 2018 |archive-date=14 November 2020 |author-link=Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Inhalation for intoxication===
[[Inhalant|Inhaled]] (huffed) gasoline vapor is a common intoxicant. Users concentrate and inhale gasoline vapor in a manner not intended by the manufacturer to produce [[euphoria]] and [[Substance intoxication|intoxication]]. Gasoline inhalation has become epidemic in some poorer communities and indigenous groups in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and some Pacific Islands.<ref name="gasoline Sniffing Fact File2">{{Cite web |url=https://www.abc.net.au/health/library/stories/2005/11/24/1831506.htm |title=Petrol Sniffing Fact File |website=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] |access-date=26 May 2024 |archive-date=26 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526150145/https://www.abc.net.au/health/library/stories/2005/11/24/1831506.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> The practice is thought to cause severe organ damage, along with other effects such as [[intellectual disability]] and various [[cancer]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Low IQ and Gasoline Huffing: The Perpetuation Cycle |year=2005 |doi=10.1176/appi.ajp.162.5.1020-a |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/7873998 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170814215234/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/7873998_Low_IQ_and_Gasoline_Huffing_The_Perpetuation_Cycle |archive-date=14 August 2017 |df=dmy-all|last1=Yip |first1=Leona |last2=Mashhood |first2=Ahmed |last3=Naudé |first3=Suné |journal=American Journal of Psychiatry |volume=162 |issue=5 |pages=1020–1021 |pmid=15863813 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=16 May 2013 |title=Rising Trend: Sniffing Gasoline – Huffing & Inhalants |url=https://www.addiction.com/3385/gas-sniffing-form-substance-abuse/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220203248/https://www.addiction.com/3385/gas-sniffing-form-substance-abuse/ |archive-date=20 December 2016 |access-date=12 December 2016 |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Petrol Sniffing / Gasoline Sniffing |url=http://alcoholrehab.com/drug-addiction/petrol-sniffing-gasoline-sniffing/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221072052/http://alcoholrehab.com/drug-addiction/petrol-sniffing-gasoline-sniffing/ |archive-date=21 December 2016 |access-date=12 December 2016 |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Benzene and Cancer Risk |url=https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-causes/benzene.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125204501/https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-causes/benzene.html |archive-date=25 January 2021 |access-date=7 December 2020 |website=[[American Cancer Society]]}}</ref>

In Canada, Native children in the isolated Northern Labrador community of [[Davis Inlet, Newfoundland and Labrador|Davis Inlet]] were the focus of national concern in 1993, when many were found to be sniffing gasoline. The Canadian and provincial [[Newfoundland and Labrador]] governments intervened on several occasions, sending many children away for treatment. Despite being moved to the new community of [[Natuashish, Newfoundland and Labrador|Natuashish]] in 2002, serious inhalant abuse problems have continued. Similar problems were reported in [[Sheshatshiu, Newfoundland and Labrador|Sheshatshiu]] in 2000 and also in [[Pikangikum First Nation]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Lauwers |first=Bert |date=1 June 2011 |title=The Office of the Chief Coroner's Death Review of the Youth Suicides at the Pikangikum First Nation, 2006–2008 |url=http://www.mcscs.jus.gov.on.ca/english/DeathInvestigations/office_coroner/PublicationsandReports/Pikangikum/PIK_report.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120930122313/http://www.mcscs.jus.gov.on.ca//english/DeathInvestigations/office_coroner/PublicationsandReports/Pikangikum/PIK_report.html |archive-date=30 September 2012 |access-date=2 October 2011 |publisher=Office of the Chief Coroner of Ontario }}</ref> In 2012, the issue once again made the news media in Canada.<ref>{{cite web |title=Labrador Innu kids sniffing gas again to fight boredom |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/labrador-innu-kids-sniffing-gas-again-to-fight-boredom-1.1272679 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120618224149/http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2012/06/18/nl-natuashish-sniffing-618.html |archive-date=18 June 2012 |access-date=18 June 2012 |publisher=[[CBC.ca]] |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

{{see also|Indigenous Australian#Substance abuse}}

Australia has long faced a petrol (gasoline) sniffing problem in isolated and impoverished [[Australian Aborigines|aboriginal]] communities. Although some sources argue that sniffing was introduced by U.S. [[Soldier|servicemen]] stationed in the nation's [[Top End]] during [[World War II]]<ref>{{cite journal |last=Wortley |first=R.P. |date=29 August 2006 |title=Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Land Rights (Regulated Substances) Amendment Bill |url=http://www.parliament.sa.gov.au/SAN/Attachments/Hansard/2006/LC/WH290806.LC.htm |journal=Legislative Council (South Australia) |publisher=Hansard |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929121901/http://www.parliament.sa.gov.au/SAN/Attachments/Hansard/2006/LC/WH290806.LC.htm |archive-date=29 September 2007 |access-date=27 December 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref> or through experimentation by 1940s-era [[Cobourg Peninsula]] sawmill workers,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Brady |first=Maggie |date=27 April 2006 |title=Community Affairs Reference Committee Reference: Petrol sniffing in remote Aboriginal communities |url=http://www.aph.gov.au/hansard/senate/commttee/S9271.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=Official Committee Hansard (Senate) |publisher=Hansard |page=11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060912011023/http://www.aph.gov.au/hansard/senate/commttee/S9271.pdf |archive-date=12 September 2006 |access-date=20 March 2006 }}</ref> other sources claim that inhalant abuse (such as glue inhalation) emerged in Australia in the late 1960s.<ref>{{cite report |url=http://archives.drugabuse.gov/pdf/monographs/148.pdf |title=Epidemiology of Inhalant Abuse: An International Perspective |publisher=National Institute on Drug Abuse |id=NIDA Research Monograph 148 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161005024204/http://archives.drugabuse.gov/pdf/monographs/148.pdf |archive-date=5 October 2016 |url-status=dead |year=1995 |editor-first=Nicholas |editor-last=Kozel |editor2-first=Zili |editor2-last=Sloboda |editor3=Mario De La Rosa |accessdate=2 August 2020 }}</ref> Chronic, heavy petrol sniffing appears to occur among remote, impoverished [[Indigenous Australians|indigenous]] communities, where the ready accessibility of petrol has helped to make it a common substance for abuse.

In Australia, petrol sniffing now occurs widely throughout remote Aboriginal communities in the [[Northern Territory]], [[Western Australia]], northern parts of [[South Australia]], and [[Queensland]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Petrol-sniffing reports in Central Australia increase as kids abuse low aromatic Opal fuel |newspaper=ABC News |date=10 May 2022 |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-11/petrol-sniffing-concerns-rise-in-central-australia-/101052088 |access-date=16 May 2022 |archive-date=16 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220516000246/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-11/petrol-sniffing-concerns-rise-in-central-australia-/101052088 |url-status=live }}</ref> The number of people sniffing petrol goes up and down over time as young people experiment or sniff occasionally. "Boss", or chronic, sniffers may move in and out of communities; they are often responsible for encouraging young people to take it up.<ref>{{cite web |last=Williams |first=Jonas |date=March 2004 |title=Responding to petrol sniffing on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Lands: A case study |url=http://www.humanrights.gov.au/social_justice/sj_report/sjreport03/chap4.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070831173214/http://humanrights.gov.au/social_justice/sj_report/sjreport03/chap4.html |archive-date=31 August 2007 |access-date=27 December 2006 |work=Social Justice Report 2003 |publisher=Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission |df=dmy-all}}</ref> In 2005, the [[Government of Australia]] and [[BP|BP Australia]] began the usage of [[Opal (fuel)|Opal fuel]] in remote areas prone to petrol sniffing.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/Committee/clac_ctte/petrol_sniffing/submissions/sub03.pdf |title=Submission to the Senate Community Affairs References Committee by BP Australia Pty Ltd |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070614103002/http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/clac_ctte/petrol_sniffing/submissions/sub03.pdf|archive-date=14 June 2007|work=Parliament of Australia Web Site|access-date=8 June 2007}}</ref> Opal is a non-sniffable fuel (which is much less likely to cause a high) and has made a difference in some indigenous communities.

===Flammability===
[[File:Gasoline-fire.png|thumb|Uncontrolled burning of gasoline produces large quantities of [[soot]] and [[carbon monoxide]].]]
Gasoline is flammable with low [[flash point]] of {{Convert|-23|C|F}}.  Gasoline has a [[lower explosive limit]] of 1.4 percent by volume and an [[upper explosive limit]] of 7.6 percent. If the concentration is below 1.4 percent, the air-gasoline mixture is too lean and does not ignite. If the concentration is above 7.6 percent, the mixture is too rich and also does not ignite. However, gasoline vapor rapidly mixes and spreads with air, making unconstrained gasoline quickly flammable.

===Gasoline exhaust===
The [[exhaust gas]] generated by burning gasoline is harmful to both the environment and to human health. After CO is inhaled into the human body, it readily combines with hemoglobin in the blood, and its affinity is 300 times that of oxygen. Therefore, the hemoglobin in the lungs combines with CO instead of oxygen, causing the human body to be [[Hypoxia (medical)|hypoxic]], causing headaches, dizziness, vomiting, and other poisoning symptoms. In severe cases, it may lead to death.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Carbon Monoxide Poisoning |url=https://www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/publications/carbonmonoxide-factsheet.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220101071121/http://www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/publications/carbonmonoxide-factsheet.pdf |archive-date=1 January 2022 |access-date=12 December 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Carbon monoxide poisoning - Symptoms and causes |url=https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/carbon-monoxide/symptoms-causes/syc-20370642 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212225133/https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/carbon-monoxide/symptoms-causes/syc-20370642 |archive-date=12 December 2021 |access-date=2021-12-12 |website=Mayo Clinic |language=en}}</ref> Hydrocarbons only affect the human body when their concentration is quite high, and their toxicity level depends on the chemical composition. The hydrocarbons produced by incomplete combustion include alkanes, aromatics, and aldehydes. Among them, a concentration of methane and ethane over {{Convert|35|g/m3|oz/cuft|abbr=on}} will cause loss of consciousness or suffocation, a concentration of pentane and hexane over {{Convert|45|g/m3|oz/cuft|abbr=on}} will have an anesthetic effect, and aromatic hydrocarbons will have more serious effects on health, blood toxicity, [[neurotoxicity]], and cancer. If the concentration of benzene exceeds 40 ppm, it can cause leukemia, and xylene can cause headache, dizziness, nausea, and vomiting. Human exposure to large amounts of aldehydes can cause eye irritation, nausea, and dizziness. In addition to carcinogenic effects, long-term exposure can cause damage to the skin, liver, kidneys, and cataracts.<ref name="x-engineer.org">{{Cite web |last=x-engineer.org |title=Effects of vehicle pollution on human health – x-engineer.org |url=https://x-engineer.org/effects-vehicle-pollution-human-health/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212225153/https://x-engineer.org/effects-vehicle-pollution-human-health/ |archive-date=12 December 2021 |access-date=2021-12-12 |language=en-US}}</ref> After NO<sub>x</sub> enters the alveoli, it has a severe stimulating effect on the lung tissue. It can irritate the conjunctiva of the eyes, cause tearing, and cause pink eyes. It also has a stimulating effect on the nose, pharynx, throat, and other organs. It can cause acute wheezing, breathing difficulties, red eyes, sore throat, and dizziness causing poisoning.<ref name="x-engineer.org" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=NOx gases in diesel car fumes: Why are they so dangerous? |url=https://phys.org/news/2015-09-nox-gases-diesel-car-fumes.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212225135/https://phys.org/news/2015-09-nox-gases-diesel-car-fumes.html |archive-date=12 December 2021 |access-date=2021-12-12 |website=phys.org |language=en}}</ref> [[Fine particulate matter|Fine particulates]] are also dangerous to health.<ref name="canada-2015">{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2015-10-13 |title=Human Health Risk Assessment for Gasoline Exhaust |url=https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/publications/healthy-living/human-health-risk-assessment-gasoline-exhaust-summary.html |access-date=2024-09-26 |website=www.canada.ca}}</ref>