The elephant in the room – toxic vapors

I’ll never forget my first conversation with a safety manager.  It was about toxic vapors caused by firefighting foam on a chemical spill.

I was explaining how PetroGuard Chemical Spill Absorbent would be different because it quickly absorbs liquid chemicals and minimizes hydrolyzing, resulting in the reduction or elimination of toxic fumes, fires or explosions.

We were talking about responding to a chemical spill using firefighting foam, the unintended consequence of reactive vapor and how it is often the elephant in the room.  The thing everyone is aware of, but no one wants to talk about.

If you have ever experienced the consequences of toxic vapors when responding to a chemical spill using firefighting foam, you know how unpredictable things can be.

Most facility managers know they should be using something that suppresses toxic or flammable vapors, but the common products used aren’t very effective.

PetroGuard Chemcial Spill Absorbent will absorb and instantly solidify hydrocarbon or silicone based liquid chemicals transforming them into a permanent and irreversible solid matrix that is impervious to water. Unlike a neutralizer, the process is not a chemical reaction but is a physical process which makes responding to spills safer and easier.

Applying PetroGuard to a spill before the application of firefighting foam can significantly minimize or completely eliminate vapor production!

This keeps your first responders, labor force and surrounding community safer.  And clean-up is quicker and more efficient.  Additionally, the suppression and subsequent elimination of vapor production allows the responders to carefully plan their next steps since the chemicals would no longer be hydrolyzing.

So that’s pretty interesting right?

Well there’s another added benefit.   If the liquid chemical has any depth,  the application of PetroGuard will form an interface or “skin” on the surface.  This will effectively act to seal and eliminate vapor production. When foam is added as an additional layer of protection, the interface can then be punctured with a pump nozzle and the excess liquid can be pumped out leaving the solid matrix to be incinerated.

If you would like to find out how your facility can save money by using PetroGuard, contact us.