Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey
Speaker 1: brain Stuff, I'm Lauren boge Bomb, and today's episode is
Speaker 1: another classic from our archives. This one is a bit
Speaker 1: of practical everyday science. Lots of spray canisters carry instructions
Speaker 1: to shake before use, but not compressed air canisters, and
Speaker 1: it's actually dangerous to do. So I'll let former Lauren
Speaker 1: explain why. Hi brain Stuff, Lauren bulge Bomb here. Whether
Speaker 1: it's dry shampoo or paint, or accustomed to shaking aerosol
Speaker 1: canisters before we spray them, so it's only natural that
Speaker 1: when we pick up a canister of compressed air to
Speaker 1: clean a keyboard, we also want to shake the can
Speaker 1: even if it's label clearly says do not shake. But
Speaker 1: is this force of habit potentially harmful? In a word, yeah,
Speaker 1: Compressed air canisters are not really canned air. Rather, these
Speaker 1: canisters contain a compressed liquefied gas that propels its own
Speaker 1: vapors through a nozzle. Most of the time, the liquefied
Speaker 1: gas is one of two types. One is di fluoro
Speaker 1: ethane or HFC one two A, which is found in
Speaker 1: canisters marketed for computers and electronic equipment, and incidentally, is
Speaker 1: also known as free on, that same gas that helps
Speaker 1: make refrigerators and car air conditioners cool. The other type
Speaker 1: of gas is tetrafluoro ethane or HFC one thirty four A,
Speaker 1: which is recommended for use when flammability might be an issue,
Speaker 1: such as with hot surfaces or spark producing equipment. However,
Speaker 1: some types of can there may also contain butane, the
Speaker 1: same liquefied gas found in cigarette lighters. According to three M,
Speaker 1: which manufactures and cells compressed air canisters for dust removal,
Speaker 1: shaking or tilting the can may result in propelled liquid
Speaker 1: instead of vapor. If this happens, the liquid may come
Speaker 1: into contact with skinner eyes and cause frost bite because
Speaker 1: the chemical will freeze your skin at room temperature. If
Speaker 1: this happens, medical attention may be warranted. But first three
Speaker 1: M recommends washing affected areas of skinless soap and water,
Speaker 1: or flushing eyes with copious amounts of water. But what
Speaker 1: about all those other airsol canisters that do recommend shaking
Speaker 1: before use. Unlike the liquefied gas and canned air that
Speaker 1: propels itself out through the nozzle, everything from dry shampoo
Speaker 1: to spray paint requires a little mixing, the product inside
Speaker 1: the can separates into layers and must be shaken to
Speaker 1: mix with the propellant before use, otherwise only the propellant
Speaker 1: would come out. Today's episode is based on the article
Speaker 1: why compressed air canisters shouldn't be shaken on how stuff
Speaker 1: works dot com, written by laure L da. Brain Stuff
Speaker 1: is production of I Heart Radio in partnership with how
Speaker 1: stuff works dot Com, and it's produced by Tyler Clang.
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