Your cell phone can light your gasoline on fire.

[K2]

Sounds kinda iffy to me.. dunno if its true.. but meh..what do u guys think?



Subject: Cell Phones


>Date: Mon, 14 Apr 2003 15:30:00 -0400
>
>The Shell Oil Company recently issued a warning after three incidents in
>which mobile phones (cell phones) ignited fumes during fuelling operations.
>
>In the first case, the phone was placed on the car's trunk lid during
>fuelling; it rang and the ensuing fire destroyed the car and the gasoline
>pump.
>
>In the second, an individual suffered severe burns to their face when fumes
>ignited as they answered a call while refueling their car.
>
>And in the third, an individual suffered burns to the thigh and groin as
>fumes ignited when the phone, which was in their pocket, rang while they
>were fuelling their car.
>
>YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT:
>
>Mobile Phones can ignite fuel or fumes. Mobile phones that light up when
>switched on or when they ring release enough energy to provide a spark for
>ignition. Mobile phones should not be used in filling stations, or when
>fuelling lawn mowers, boat, etc.
>
>Mobile phones should not be used, or should be turned off, around other
>materials that generate flammable or explosive fumes or dust, i.e.,
>solvents, chemicals, gases, grain dust, etc.
>
>Another safety warning you should know about concerns static
>electricity. Below is an email from Pat Cabiling who works at Chevron
>Texaco's Richmond Refinery.
>
>FOUR RULES FOR SAFE REFUELING
>
>1) Turn off engine.
>2) Don't smoke.
>3) Don't use your cell phone - leave it inside the vehicle or turn it off.
>4) Don't re-enter your vehicle during fuelling.
>
>Bob Renkes of Petroleum Equipment Institute is working on a campaign to
>try and make people aware of fires as a result of "Static Electricity" at
>gas pumps. His company has researched 150 cases of these fires. His results
>were very surprising:
>
>1) Out of 150 cases, almost all of them were women.
>
>2) Almost all cases involved the person getting back in their vehicle while
>the nozzle was still pumping gas, when finished and they went back to pull
>the nozzle out the fire started, as a result of static.
>
>3) Most had on rubber-soled shoes.
>
>4) Most men never get back in their vehicle until completely finished.
>This
>is why they are seldom involved in these types of fires.
>
>5) Don't ever use cell phones when pumping gas
>
>6) It is the vapours that come out of the gas that cause the fire, when
>connected with static charges.
>
>7) There were 29 fires where the vehicle was re-entered and the nozzle was
>touched during refueling from a variety of makes and models. Some resulting
>in extensive damage to the vehicle, to the station, and to the customer.
>
>8) Seventeen fires that occurred before, during or immediately after the
>gas
>cap was removed and before fuelling began.
>
>Mr. Renkes stresses TO NEVER GET BACK INTO YOUR VEHICLE WHILE FILLING IT
>WITH GAS.
>
>If you absolutely HAVE to get in your vehicle while the gas is pumping,
>make
>sure you get out, close the door TOUCHING THE METAL, before you ever pull
>the nozzle out. This way the static from your body will be discharged
>before
>you ever remove the nozzle.
>
>As mentioned earlier, The Petroleum Equipment Institute, along with several
>other companies now, are really trying to make the public aware of this
>danger. You can find out more information by going to http://www.pei.org
><http://www.pei.org/> Once here, click in the center of the screen where
>it says "Stop Static."
>
>I ask you to please send this information to ALL your family and
>friends, especially those who have kids in the car with them while pumping
>gas. If this were to happen to them, they may not be able to get the
>children out in time.
>
>Thanks for passing this along.
>
>Pat Cabiling @ Chevron Texaco USA RFMS Richmond California Refinery
>Phone: (510) 242-1454 Email: [email protected]
>

[rtse313]

i didn't read the message... but yup it's true !!!

[avlena]

http://www.snopes.com/autos/hazards/gasvapor.asp

according to snopes, it's sorta true...but not to the extreme that that makes it out to be.


The American Petroleum Institute said, "We can find no evidence of someone using a cellphone causing any kind of accident, no matter how small, at a gas station anywhere in the world."



Moreover, Shell denies having issued a warning of this nature:

We understand that there is an email, purportedly official Shell communication, circulating which describes various incidents that are supposed to have occured as a result of mobile phones ringing while at a retail station.

Please be advised that the email in question does NOT originate from Shell Malaysia and we are unable to confirm any of the incidents quoted.
The "three incidents" e-mail was later teamed to a warning about another danger lurking at gas stations, that of static electricity touching off fires. We cover that e-mail on our Static Quo page.

Okay, so it hasn't happened yet. Is there still potential, yet unrealized, risk in using cell phones while refueling?

According to the experts, there is a danger of touching off an explosion by using a mobile phone near gas pumps. However, this is a hugely remote possibility at best, and the risk is nowhere near as immediate as that of a number of other common pumpside behaviors such as smoking or leaving the engine running while filling the tank. Even so, gas pumps in Australia bear stickers cautioning motorists to turn off their phones while refueling; Shell in Malaysia has affixed similar stickers to each of its gas pumps; numerous pumps in the U.S.A. are similarly adorned; Canada's major gas pump operators have banned customers from using mobile phones while at the gas pump; and the city of Cicero, Illinois, recently passed the first law in the USA banning the use of cellular phones at gas stations.


This just seems like a lot of paranoia to me. :shrug:

[attgig]

Originally posted by rtse313
i didn't read the message... but yup it's true !!!

yes it is true.

[raimin]

no it's not
true in theory it might happened
but according to www.pei.com, which is listed in that email, not one documented case has happened
http://www.pei.org/faq/static.htm#1

[whitak24]

i'm with all the other "yes...but" people above me.

sure, it could happen. but the risks are pretty low. besides, the solution is just to be talking on your phone before you start pumping and continue talking until after you've left the gas station :D

[mcs328]

I dunno about the cell phone but the static charge thing is true. We had a local news segment on it a few months back. I always stay outside and wait until it's done before going back inside.

[coleslaw]

This is absolutely not true.

Although, if you placed your cell phone on the outside of your car and it happened to ring and vibrate, there is a chance that a static charge could be released from the plastic case of the phone being separated from the car (but it would have to be a part of the phone that was an insulator, i.e. not metal). Even then, the static charge would more than likely not be enough to produce a spark. Now, a person getting out of a car - rubbing his/her clothing across a cloth seat - is enough to produce a static charge of 20,000+ Volts, which is enough to break down the dielectric (air), thus producing a spark.

[Memo]

It's true guys. The othre day I was filling up my tank at the gasoline station and I placed my cell phone on the top of my car while I reached in my pocket for my credit card. All of a sudden my cell phone rang, probably my girlfriend or somsething. Before I knew it my truck completely blew up like 30 feet in the air and I was engulfed in flames.

[brainsmile]

I know that the local gas pumps here all carry that warning on them

[coleslaw]

Originally posted by brainsmile
I know that the local gas pumps here all carry that warning on them

They all have the warnings listed because people actually believe these urban legends without thinking twice about them. I once saw a printout of the very email that had been circulating at a gas station. I made me laugh because it simply not true. I almost said something to the attendant but she probably would have just given me a blank stare.

[whitak24]

Originally posted by chosenfool
i guess theyre not taking any chances.
it's to reduce their liability in the off-chance that something did happen.

if a cell phone were to cause an explosion, there would inevitably be a lawsuit. if the plaintiff could show that the gas station (or the company that owned it) had any idea that this could be a problem yet failed to warn customers against talking on their phones, then it would increase the company's liability for the accident.

this way, they can say "we told you it was dangerous but you're a dip**** and you did it anyway. tough luck for you" (not that they won't completely avoid liability, but it can only help).

[Nanotech9]

so really - whose worried about 3 cases of cell phone fires out of HOW MANY MILLIONS OF PEOPLE using the gas pump and cell phones at the same time every day?....

well?

anyone?

nah.

[sbp]

Even with 3 cases out of millions upon millions, people will still be worried.

Geez should be people be yakking on the phone or paying attention to pumping gas. http://home.earthlink.net/~sbp777/pics/bleh.gif

[JackHammer]

I don't know how true it is with the cell phone starting fires. In my company we use Motorola Nextel phones for communication, specifically the i60 and the i1000. Well my company is a utility company with a gas, a steam and an electric division. The gas department's R&D tested the i1000 to determine its potential to ignite natural gas. In the first trial they placed an i1000 in a plexiglass chamber and filled it with 5% gas in air mixture and called the phone. Nothing happened. The second trial, they filled the chamber up to 15% gas in air mixture and called it again and nothing. FYI natural gas explosive limit is 5-15% fuel to air ratio. It was determined that the i1000 does not provide enough energy either through sparks or whatever to ignite natural gas. Now maybe with gasoline it is different. Maybe gasoline require only a minute amount of energy to ignite it.

[avlena]

Originally posted by whitak24

it's to reduce their liability in the off-chance that something did happen.

if a cell phone were to cause an explosion, there would inevitably be a lawsuit. if the plaintiff could show that the gas station (or the company that owned it) had any idea that this could be a problem yet failed to warn customers against talking on their phones, then it would increase the company's liability for the accident.

this way, they can say "we told you it was dangerous but you're a dip**** and you did it anyway. tough luck for you" (not that they won't completely avoid liability, but it can only help).

:stupid: Companies will put warning labels up about anything, just to protect themselves, no matter how stupid it is. When my older bro worked at Sears, he discovered that there's a particular brand of lawnmower out there with a rather odd warning on it: "Do not use as hedge clippers". Apparently, some guy was stupid, lifted the lawnmower up to trim his hedge, got injured and sued the lawn mower company. :P companies protect themselves by putting up warning labels about anything that has even the slightest chance of happening.

[coleslaw]

Originally posted by JackHammer
In the first trial they placed an i1000 in a plexiglass chamber and filled it with 5% gas in air mixture and called the phone. Nothing happened. The second trial, they filled the chamber up to 15% gas in air mixture and called it again and nothing. FYI natural gas explosive limit is 5-15% fuel to air ratio. It was determined that the i1000 does not provide enough energy either through sparks or whatever to ignite natural gas.Were they doing this with the phone set to vibrate? If not, there is no way that an airborne EM field would be able to ignite gas fumes.

[brainsmile]

what really gets me is when you see those chain smokers who are lurking around the pumps while their buddies fill up with gas. I'm like hello????:poke: :shifty: :bonk:

[Joshua]

I saw a tv special last month about static electricity doing the same thing at the pump. They even had security camera footage of it. Quite freaky.

[WhiskeyPapa]

No legitimate warning from a major (or even minor) company is EVER circulated through email. Some of you are so gullible.

[Peachhead]

Originally posted by SnotRocket
I saw a tv special last month about static electricity doing the same thing at the pump. They even had security camera footage of it. Quite freaky.

I saw that...
one minute you're pumping gas, the next minute, flambe. :eek:

[guiseppewv]

Originally posted by UT Memo
It's true guys. The othre day I was filling up my tank at the gasoline station and I placed my cell phone on the top of my car while I reached in my pocket for my credit card. All of a sudden my cell phone rang, probably my girlfriend or somsething. Before I knew it my truck completely blew up like 30 feet in the air and I was engulfed in flames.

LMAO :heh: :heh:

This could happen but something would have to be wrong with your phone to cause it to creat a spark or it would have to have a lot of static electricity built up on its surface.

I actually had a gas station attendent shut my gas pump off from inside b/c I was talking on my cell phone while pumping gas. I had to laugh. :D

[topane]

Originally posted by brainsmile
what really gets me is when you see those chain smokers who are lurking around the pumps while their buddies fill up with gas. I'm like hello????:poke: :shifty: :bonk: I had a friend in high school who smoked while pumping customers' gas all the time. People used to get out of their cars and go into the snack shop and hide until he was done.

[whitak24]

Originally posted by topane
I had a friend in high school who smoked while pumping customers' gas all the time. People used to get out of their cars and go into the snack shop and hide until he was done.
kind of like the scene in the Blues Brothers where the gas station gets blown up :heh:

[Memo]

Originally posted by topane
I had a friend in high school who smoked while pumping customers' gas all the time. People used to get out of their cars and go into the snack shop and hide until he was done.

I had a friend who did this one time when I went to get gas with him. He left the car ON and lit up a cigarette while pumping. I was seriously scared ****less but nothing happened.

[ShawnLee]

Man, my brother started the car while I was pumping gas, scared the crap out of me. There are some things I figured that you weren't supposed to do, but my car is no worse for it (though worse for many other things).

As for this warning, I've been hearing about this for a couple of years now, and I just thought of it the other day, when my ffriend called me while I was pumping gas. Still no explosion. Too bad, it would've been a cool way to get interviewed by the TV news.