"George" <george@yourservice.com> wrote in message
news:e9Jhh.1478$3v6.482@bignews8.bellsouth.net...
Anhydrous ammonia is extremely toxic to people and to animals when it is
released as a concentrated gas cloud in accidents such as a train
derailment or a barge accident. Soil contaminated with ammonic
fertilizer is another matter altogether. That said, I wouldn't
recommend that either be let loose in an uncontrolled way within the
confines of the ISS.

Which is why I believe ISS doesn't use ammonia in the coolant loops that
are inside the pressurized confines of ISS. It's only used on the
outside, so you could only bring it into ISS through the airlock. But
luckily when you're doing an EVA, you're in vaccuum and any ammonia that
gets on your suit ought to quickly dissapate. But just in case, NASA had
the astronaut bask in the sun to help get rid of any lingering ammonia.

So in the end, you're not facing the same problem as you would on earth
with a cloud of ammonia that may not quickly dissipate.

Jeff

On Thu, 21 Dec 2006 13:08:39 -0500, "George" <george@yourservice.com
wrote:


"George R. Kasica" <georgek@netwrx1.com> wrote in message
news:8jnio2p7nh07vbuj7dl4aki73n47i8d0o0@4ax.com...
Anyone familiar with the properties of anhydrous ammonia will tell
you
that
there is no question about its toxicity.

http://msds.ehs.cornell.edu/msds/msdsdod/a67/m33029.htm

Yes, because like most people, they misuse toxic as the media has for
years.

(Here a clue for you: The disposal methods for toxic materials are
not 'use contaminated materials for fertilizer'.)
Oct 5th, 2004 JDL

Well, I for one am certainly glad that you aren't a first responder. I
can
see your reaction to an anyhdrous ammonia spill along a railline in a
major
city: "It's not toxic because 'they' missuse the word. Just leave it
be."
Meanwhile, as thousands succumb to the fumes...

George

George, as one who happens to be a First Responder and HAZMAT Level-A
trained as well, I can tell you that anhydrous ammonia is nasty stuff.
You definitely DO NOT want to just leave it be. Living in a more rural
area here many of the farmers have large quantities on hand, also a
large commercial food processor is here as well and their
refrigeration is ammonia based. For either of them it's stored in
tanks and we've had a few leaks/spills over the years (in one case a
fork lift at the food processor hit a pipe and cut it - VERY ugly) and
it's always a big deal to clean up the mess and stop the leak ASAP.
More than once we've moved a significant portion of the village out of
the way (total pop. right about 6000 now) depending on the location of
the leak and the winds.

===[George R. Kasica]===

EMT-IV Tech #304005/PHTLS
georgek@netwrx1.com
http://www.netwrx1.com/georgek
ICQ #12862186

So am I. You need to address this to Derek, not me.

LOL...I suspected as much. I wasn't directing at you but more agreeing
with your statement.

Have a safe and Merry Christmas (and hopefully a peaceful and quiet
one).
===[George R. Kasica]===