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Julie2Oregon
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# Posted: 22 Aug 2016 19:08
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I was thinking about this thread last night when I saw a report on CBS news. Ever see the ads or extended infomercials for WEN hair care products that insist they are a vast improvement on shampoo and contain healthy, natural ingredients?
Well, CBS News featured a little girl who lost her hair after using the WEN products, and she's just one of tens of thousands of people who were adversely affected in this way from using that stuff. How can that happen? I wondered. Aren't these things tested and regulated? Sheesh, they are used in sensitive areas -- near your eyes, ears, and mouth!
NO, they AREN'T tested and regulated by any authority in this country. By law, health and beauty products DON'T HAVE TO BE and the FDA is powerless to do anything to prevent dangerous products in this category from being put on the market.
Why did I think of this thread? Because hair products are one thing. Something producing fire and heat inside one's home is quite another. Just like this Chaz guy whose products caused people to lose their hair, if there wasn't any sort of government testing and regulation on the commercial selling of wood stoves, people could build stoves that weren't safe, sell them, and then deny, deny, and point fingers elsewhere when something awful happened.
And just like this Chaz guy, such people could advertise that their stoves were the greatest products ever, other reputable products weren't as good for a number of reasons, and they could pay people to vouch for their products. There will ALWAYS be a percentage of the population who are "the government and the tried-and-true sux" types who will happily purchase their products, not caring that they haven't been tested, approved, licensed or whatever. And the product developers have saved a ton of money on reputable R & D, testing at professional labs, and doing the proper procedures to ensure their products are engineered and manufactured well.
I looked at the Gray stove that rmak mentioned. Sheesh, it isn't even UL approved and they're charging about $1K for it. Meanwhile, you can get a small EPA-approved, American-made Pleasant Hearth wood stove for about $700 and have the peace of mind that it comes with a good warranty and recourse if the thing should fail.
I want my products tested and approved. I'm not going to take some person's word for it that they built a better mousetrap and hand over my limited greenbacks to them. The whole notion that government needs to mind its own business presupposes that people are honest and will do the right thing. Some are and do; many aren't and won't.
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rockies
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# Posted: 22 Aug 2016 19:14
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As I said, an EMP (electro magnetic pulse) may occur or it may not. Solar flares come off the sun all the time and a few of them have created problems on earth. Probably the most well documented one was in 1859 which caused telegraph equipment to burst into flames and shocked telegraph operators.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_storm_of_1859
Another weaker EMP occurred in May 1921. Scientists seem to focus more attention on the effects of an EMP occurring over the US from a high altitude nuclear bomb than from the sun. A nuclear explosion would wipe out the electrical grid and all electronics for the entire US and parts of central Canada and northern Mexico.
Since most of the people on here are involved in various types of alternate energy and off grid systems I'm just wondering if anyone has taken preparedness a step further and planned non-electric backups for their cabin systems?
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MtnDon
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# Posted: 22 Aug 2016 19:51
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A friend in the off grid business has clients in the Sierra Nevada mountains who keep the spare boards for their inverters and controllers in a Faraday cage. A lightning strike can generate EMP like pulses that destroy electronics without even being connected. They have had spare equipment destroyed in the factory cardboard shipping cartons.
I decided to keep my spares in faraday cage / boxes, as well since we have had losses due to lightning strikes. Google can help find how-to info. Basically any metal box, can, enclosure with very finely sealed seams and lids can provide protection. Some commercial quality microwave ovens offer sufficient shielding. Metal filing cabinets can be modified to provide EMP protection.
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toyota_mdt_tech
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# Posted: 22 Aug 2016 21:35
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A microwave oven makes a great faraday cage. Just make sure its an old defective one (doesnt work) 
Hey Julie, remember MTBE's
It was put in gasoline to save the people, clean the air. It was a carcinogen and ended up in drinking water. This was mandated by the clean air act of 1990. Poisoned drinking water. Now banned many years later.
Go ahead, look it up.
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MtnDon
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# Posted: 22 Aug 2016 22:31
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MTBE... I believe it is more correct to state that MTBE's were one of the methods /chemicals that was approved for use in gasoline as an anti knock agent after Lead was determined to be detrimental to our health. Nobody was forced to use MTBE specifically, though many companies did because it worked for the purpose and was cheaper than some others.
Unfortunately like many things the "cure" turned out to be worse or as bad as the previous additive. So now we do not have MTBE in our fuel. It is an issue with water contamination in many places. Lawsuits abound.
Would things be any better if lead was still being used as a gasoline additive? Would we still have lead in our fuel or would the for profit gasoline producers have taken it upon themselves to find a better anti knock additive and removed lead? Somehow I think most of us know the answer to that.
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Julie2Oregon
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# Posted: 22 Aug 2016 23:29
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MtnDon
I did a quick search on MTBE before I went out and I found exactly what you wrote. I didn't find anything that stated the use of MTBE was mandated by the government.
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toyota_mdt_tech
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# Posted: 23 Aug 2016 00:30
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https://fee.org/articles/government-reformulated-gas-bad-in-more-ways-than-one/
The EPA requires the new reformulated gasoline to have an oxygen content of just over 2 percent to help the gasoline burn cleaner. The two primary oxygenate additives are ethanol (corn alcohol) and methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE). Because these additives are not pure oxygen, the amount needed to meet the required oxygen content is significant. For example, since MTBE is only 19 percent oxygen, RFG made with this oxygenate additive must contain at least 11 percent MTBE.2
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MtnDon
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# Posted: 23 Aug 2016 01:01 - Edited by: MtnDon
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Exactly! The reformulated gas had to meet specs. How to get there was a choice the petroleum companies had to figure out. Where I live they used ethanol mostly. Other places used MTBE. A cleaner burn was the goal, not a bad idea in general.
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