Editing 2638: Extended NFPA Hazard Diamond
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | + | {{incomplete|Created by a SUBSTANCE WORTH $500 IN STREET VALUE - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} | |
− | + | This comic depicts an extension of the {{w|NFPA 704}} "fire diamond" emblematic insignia used to warn about the properties of hazardous substances inside a building, vehicle, room, cabinet, or container that are important during an emergency or accident, such as a fire, earthquake, spill or leak, bringing the diamond from 2x2 squares to 3x3 by adding five variously useful and humorous squares along the bottom edges. | |
− | The | + | The numbers in a normal NFPA 704 diamond do not specify values of substances' properties, but rather broad categories designating characteristics of the substances of greatest interest to first responders and hazardous materials cleanup crews. Randall's expanded diamond breaks with this convention, with several squares (Lilac, Orange, and Black) denoting absolute values, and one square (Green) denoting an economic value. This could very easily lead to documentation update headaches if these values were ever to change, doubly so since the Lilac square is linked to political outcomes. |
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{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
|+ Squares and explanations | |+ Squares and explanations | ||
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| Top Right || Yellow || Instability (2) || Denotes how stable the substance(s) are when exposed to water, heat, shock, air, or other substances. 2 indicates that "Normally unstable and will readily undergo violent decomposition but does not detonate. Also: may react violently with water or may form potentially explosive mixtures with water." | | Top Right || Yellow || Instability (2) || Denotes how stable the substance(s) are when exposed to water, heat, shock, air, or other substances. 2 indicates that "Normally unstable and will readily undergo violent decomposition but does not detonate. Also: may react violently with water or may form potentially explosive mixtures with water." | ||
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− | | Center || White || (Special Hazard) || | + | | Center || White || (Special Hazard) || Contains a symbol with additional information about the substance(s), e.g., '''OX''' for {{w|oxidizer}}s, '''SA''' for simple {{w|asphyxiant}}s such as nitrogen and helium, and <s>'''W'''</s> for substances which react dangerously with water. Given that the other tiles on this diamond are values, not more explicitly placeholders, "(Special Hazard)", including the parentheses, may actually be the literal value for the substance, not just a general descriptor of the purpose of this subdivision of the diamond. |
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!colspan=5| After this point, all squares are made up by Randall. | !colspan=5| After this point, all squares are made up by Randall. | ||
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− | | Center Left || Green || Number of digits in the street value ($/gram) (2) || Describes the order of magnitude of the price (in USD) of one gram of the substance when sold illegally and informally. This is done on a logarithmic scale, with a '1' selling for $9/gram or less, a '2' selling for | + | | Center Left || Green || Number of digits in the street value ($/gram) (2) || Describes the order of magnitude of the price (in USD) of one gram of the substance when sold illegally and informally. This is done on a logarithmic scale, with a '1' selling for $9/gram or less, a '2' selling for $99/gram, and so on. As such this is the first of several squares where the number may presumably go to 5 or above (which is not allowed on the original Blue/Red/Yellow squares, as they do not denote strict numerical values). That said it's not immediately clear how substances which command <$1/gram would be handled. |
Randall's example substance apparently sells for tens of dollars per gram (which would be similar to most common illicit drugs). | Randall's example substance apparently sells for tens of dollars per gram (which would be similar to most common illicit drugs). | ||
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| Bottom Right || Orange || How many times you have to scrub your hands after touching it before they stop smelling weird (1) || While the real NFPA 704 chart describes properties ranging from unsafe to potentially deadly, this square describes a minor but very real inconvenience. Some things are harder to wash off your hands than others, and, given that most people don't often work with dangerous substances {{Citation Needed}}, this would be a more common, but less relevant, concern for many people. | | Bottom Right || Orange || How many times you have to scrub your hands after touching it before they stop smelling weird (1) || While the real NFPA 704 chart describes properties ranging from unsafe to potentially deadly, this square describes a minor but very real inconvenience. Some things are harder to wash off your hands than others, and, given that most people don't often work with dangerous substances {{Citation Needed}}, this would be a more common, but less relevant, concern for many people. | ||
− | In this case, the substance, or its residue, seems to be fairly easy to wash off. This is seemingly incongruous with its ratings in the Blue and Black squares (see below) | + | In this case, the substance, or its residue, seems to be fairly easy to wash off. This is seemingly incongruous with its ratings in the Blue and Black squares (see below). |
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| Bottom || Black || Number of times it's caused one of those terrifying lab accidents that chemists tell scary stories about late at night (2) || This square might show how concerned and careful someone should be in handling the substance in question, especially if the number is more than one. However, it would be dependent not just on how inherently dangerous the substance is, but also on how commonly it occurs in labs. It's also vague as to what kind of accidents it has been involved in and what precautions therefore need to be taken. It could, for example, have caused some terrifying reaction, destroying things around it, or it could be very large and unwieldy and liable to crush people if handled improperly. | | Bottom || Black || Number of times it's caused one of those terrifying lab accidents that chemists tell scary stories about late at night (2) || This square might show how concerned and careful someone should be in handling the substance in question, especially if the number is more than one. However, it would be dependent not just on how inherently dangerous the substance is, but also on how commonly it occurs in labs. It's also vague as to what kind of accidents it has been involved in and what precautions therefore need to be taken. It could, for example, have caused some terrifying reaction, destroying things around it, or it could be very large and unwieldy and liable to crush people if handled improperly. | ||
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− | + | The title text (which references "scary stories" of the Black square) refers to {{w|dimethylmercury}} and {{w|prions}}. Dimethylmercury, C<sub>2</sub>H<sub>6</sub>Hg, is an organic form of mercury with an NFPA score of 4-4-3 (contact can be fatal, will burn below 73° F (22 °C), will combust if put under pressure). In 1997, an American chemist, {{w|Karen Wetterhahn}}, died 298 days after a few drops of C<sub>2</sub>H<sub>6</sub>Hg on her latex gloves were absorbed into her hand through the gloves, causing fatal mercury poisoning. Despite her having followed all safety protocols of the time, it was not then understood that the chemical was so toxic, nor that latex was so permeable to it. Prions are misfolded proteins that are responsible for a number of neurodegenerative diseases, including {{w|mad cow disease}} and {{w|chronic wasting disease}} in non-human animals and {{w|Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease}} in humans. These would indeed be the kind of substances that would scare those working with them in their labs; if an accident occurred, the results could be calamitous. See for example the case of [https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/07/second-lab-worker-with-deadly-prion-disease-prompts-research-pause-in-france/ Émilie Jaumain], a lab technician who died after accidentally coming into contact with prions in mouse tissue. | |
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− | : | + | But a few labs have apparently had accidents involving a soda machine or {{w|dropped ceiling}}. The latter may be a reference to {{w|1978 smallpox outbreak in the United Kingdom|the death of Janet Parker}}: One inquiry found that she was infected with {{w|smallpox}} when a sample traveled upward from a lab on the floor below hers; however, other investigations have challenged that finding. There are occasional instances of vending machines causing injury or death, usually caused by people trying to shake or tilt the machines to get product out and having the machine tip and fall on them. On average, [https://www.cpsc.gov/Newsroom/News-Releases/1996/CPSC-Soda-Vending-Machine-Industry-Labeling-Campaign-Warns-Of-Deaths-And-Injuries a couple of Americans per year] are killed in this way. Reagents obtained in this way tend to have more impurities than those usually used in labs, but are relatively safe to shake. |
− | + | The only easily identifiable substance which could likely meet the specific insignia numbers shown in the comic is {{w|thionyl chloride}} (SOCl<sub>2</sub>), a chlorinating reagent and solvent regulated as a chemical weapons precursor and sometimes used in the production of methamphetamine, which would also be represented with the '''<s>W</s>''' symbol inside the white square, indicating reactivity with water. But if '''(Special Hazard)''' is the literal "Special Hazard" classification in use then something far more exotic may be involved. | |
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− | + | ==Transcript== | |
− | + | {{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} | |
− | + | :Know your extended NFPA hazard diamond: | |
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− | :[ | + | :[The diamond is divided into 3x3 squares.] |
− | : | + | :Flammability: 0 (top, red) |
+ | :Health hazard: 4 (top-left, blue) | ||
+ | :Instability/reactivity: 2 (top-right, yellow) | ||
+ | :Number of digits in the street value ($/gram): 2 (left, green) | ||
+ | :(Special hazard) (center, white) | ||
+ | :How much of a hassle it is to dispose of: 4 (right, purple) | ||
+ | :Number of federal agencies who want to know if you have any: 3 (bottom-left, pink) | ||
+ | :How many times you have to scrub your hands after touching it before they stop smelling weird: 1 (bottom-right, orange) | ||
+ | :Number of times it's caused one of those terrifying lab accidents that chemists tell scary stories about late at night: 2 (bottom, black) | ||
{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
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[[Category:Science]] | [[Category:Science]] | ||
[[Category:Chemistry]] | [[Category:Chemistry]] | ||
+ | [[Category:Comics with color]] |