Diesel Odor - A health hazard?

[lorenzo b]

Cal OSHA did a study years ago looking at workers in the petroleum industry and reviewing health records going back 40 years and found no adverse health effects from inhaling petroleum distillates.

[avb3]

Originally Posted by lorenzo b

Cal OSHA did a study years ago looking at workers in the petroleum industry and reviewing health records going back 40 years and found no adverse health effects from inhaling petroleum distillates.

Do you have a link to that study? I looked and could not find it.

[marlinmike]

If after cleaning "everything" you are still getting the smell, then you still have a leak and it can be very minor, but a leak non-the-less. Keep searching and cleaning, could also be a very small leak on the bottom of your tank, like a drip a day level.

[Sandero]

The deck fill for the diesel passes thru an aft hanging locker. The fuel hose is about 1" of 1 1/4"... don't recall which. But the locker has a diesel odor. The hose is dry on the outside and I see no evidence of any leak. I spray the hose connection to the deck fill with expanding foam as I thought it would prevent fumes from escaping at the top of the hose if there was an air leak. The hose clamp was dogged down quite tight. Anything stored inside this locker picks up the diesel smell... so no clothing is hung there (bummer).

No diesel leaks!

Where is the diesel fumes which permeate this locker coming from? Could it be from the bottom where the hose passes through to a compartment under a berth where the diesel tank is located? My sense of smell is not as acute as the admiral and diesel fumes... burnt and unburnt do not please her. So I'd like to get rid of them. The rest of the boat does not have diesel or other unusual smells.

Any thoughts?

[Zach]

Permeable hoses.

It is coming through the hose the same way tires lose air and a ziploc bagged two week old cabbage in the refrigerator makes the whole house rotten...

Change the hose out for a stainless pipe going through your lockers with the joints outside the locker and your smell should stop after a good washing. Even running a new hose through a PVC pipe will help, for a while.

Use Permatex #1 on the threads of the pipe to the hose nipples. It sets up and becomes a part of the connection.

Most of the fancy power boats use hoses made up out of hydraulic lines, or AN fittings on teflon and stainless wrapped hose. Both are less permeable than your standard wire fuel hose.

Zach

[Sandero]

Thanks! I suspected the hose.... I thought of sleeving a new hose but that's not a good seal either.

[tager]

The nose knows, don't try to talk yourself out of it. It's poison.

[Tantalus]

Originally Posted by lorenzo b

Cal OSHA did a study years ago looking at workers in the petroleum industry and reviewing health records going back 40 years and found no adverse health effects from inhaling petroleum distillates.

http://www.ncmissouri.edu/hea/barton...elfuelmsds.pdf

[avb3]

Originally Posted by Tantalus

http://www.ncmissouri.edu/hea/barton...elfuelmsds.pdf

Thanks.... That makes more sense than the non- referenced mentioned earlier

[Bestathook]

That "sewage" odor in some heads is the same deal, permeable hoses.

I like to plumb with PVC, and join junctions with very short hose sections, clamped close, for unions.

[lorenzo b]

Originally Posted by avb3

Do you have a link to that study? I looked and could not find it.

As I recall, that study was quoted by Dr Darryl Inaba of the Haight Ashbury Clinic during a discussion we were having about huffing. The study was done so long ago I doubt it is available online, maybe the 60s.

[avb3]

Originally Posted by lorenzo b

As I recall, that study was quoted by Dr Darryl Inaba of the Haight Ashbury Clinic during a discussion we were having about huffing. The study was done so long ago I doubt it is available online, maybe the 60s.

I would suspect that study has been replaced by many that suggests otherwise. Is highly out of date.

[lorenzo b]

Originally Posted by avb3

I would suspect that study has been replaced by many that suggests otherwise. Is highly out of date.

When you consider the hundreds of millions of people that have been exposed to petroleum distillates over the last 100 years with no adverse effects, you may want to just rely on common sense.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by lorenzo b

When you consider the hundreds of millions of people that have been exposed to petroleum distillates over the last 100 years with no adverse effects, you may want to just rely on common sense.

http://www.hpa.org.uk/webc/HPAwebFil.../1194947407341

[Pirate999]

Health, no... Annoyance, most definitely.

It takes just a few drops for the smell. Places that you may not think of to look - engine fuel lines. Run the engine and search all over for a drip. Stuff the area with paper towels and see which one has diesel. The other areas, besides hoses, are the fittings to the tanks such as a drain plug. Many tanks have one. It could be weeping due to poor installation.

Just takes a drop every so often for the smell to continue.