@ashe1.070

2 months ago

So as a chemist, I have to mention that dichloromethane (methylene chloride, DCM) isn’t that flammable. It will burn, but it needs a decent amount of energy input to get it to burn. I once tested this by putting a couple drops on a microscope slide, tried to light it on fire, and it took some effort. When it does finally start to burn, it burns with a weak, dirty flame. That is at least when it’s a liquid that’s not thoroughly mixed with air. DCM is also very volatile meaning it vaporizes very easily; it has a boiling point of about 40 C (or about 103 F which for a solvent is a very low boiling point), and a very high vapor pressure meaning it readily jumps from the liquid phase to the gas phase. When mixed very thoroughly with air, and in it’s vapor phase it’s probably easier to ignite. However, it’s nothing like ethyl ether (which will easily ignite on a hot surface; it doesn’t even require a spark), or even something like ethanol which is still pretty flammable. Regardless, I hope DCM has been phased out for aerosolizing tear gases because the main risk of DCM is it’s toxicity. It’s not as toxic as something like cyanides. It’s not even the most toxic solvent that’s still used (that dubious honor goes to tetrachloromethane, aka carbon tetrachloride, or maybe carbon disulfide), but it’s still toxic. Exposure to large quantities can cause serious damage to organs. Oh, and it’s thought to be a possible carcinogen. If its intended use is to be a component of a non-lethal weapon used by police then the solvent should at least be nontoxic, so people aren’t accidentally poisoned by it. Anyway, I don’t believe the cultists lit the fire themselves. Too many lies from the government to believe anything they say. This is just my input on the solvent used to aerosolize CS since I’ve worked with DCM in the laboratory many, many times as a solvent for reactions, extractions, etc.

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