Thread: Old oil disposal

I know a farmer that has a lot of self propelled machinery tractors, headers etc, He has a special section in his shed where he recycles all his oil. This is done by allowing the oil to flow through rope that are in pollie pipes from a mezzanine floor, a drop of about 1.75 mts. The oil comes out clean and is reused many times over. From memory I think he said that For every 20 litres. he loses about 1 ltr. I never asked how often he replaces his rope.
Hodgo

Originally Posted by damienb

Used oil is a carcinogen. It's full of polyaromatic rings and metal residues. Use it on garden sleepers and it will end up in your veges. Use it on posts and it will transfer to the soil and to people touching the posts. It also volatilises and if you can smell it, you're breathing it. Just take it to supercheap and don't buy oil from places that don't offer disposal. They reprocess it or burn it for fuel.

It's not even a good termite protection. I've seen termites go straight through oil treated sleeper ends.

Generally what you have said is rubbish, no offence. No one said it will totally stop termites but is a deterrent and have seen it work first hand where we have had termite issues, they will not go near it, it also helps stops post rotting. If you apply it correctly and allow to soak in ground contamination is non existent. Sorry to say but oil is carcinogenic well before it comes out of an engine and the little amount of metal deposits is negligible. If it can be used to be burnt as a fuel source there is no real issue as burning it would and does release more carcinogens, read some MSDS sheets. If it was so carcinogenic then there would have to be strict guidelines for its handling and use. Diesel is a carcinogen and many times more than oil but we use it, burn it, handle it all the time. The issue is not about it being carcinogenic, but about any amount that gets into soils and waterways and sources causing environmental damage. The amount that drops onto the ground from your Land Rover would do more environmental damage. I have never had any ground contamination in all the time I have used it.
Maybe you want to look at the environmental and health impacts of termite and or ant sprays. Also wood oiling treatments, same effect as using waste oil.

Originally Posted by CraigE

Generally what you have said is rubbish, no offence.

Right back at you.

Used oil is full of highly carcinogenic combustion by products which make it about a million times worse than new engine oil. Nobody is talking about metals. Damien mentioned PAHs - e.g. benzo-a-pyrene. Diesel fuel is not carcinogenic. Diesel exhaust is. There is a lack of understanding in your comments.

You post your MSDSs and damien and i can post all the studies on the composition of used oil.
Using used oil to treat wood is about the same as using creosote. There lots of studies which show that it leaches back out of the wood over time. For that reason it is now banned for most applications.

Note it is also illegal to burn used engine oil in an engine as some have been suggesting.

Obviously this may be location specific but in the three queensland coastal towns that I have lived in.
The local trawler base/ pro fisherman wharf area has a used oil disposal system.

Ive never had troubles dumping any amount into their capture for re-cycle tank?

S

Originally Posted by isuzurover

Right back at you.

Used oil is full of highly carcinogenic combustion by products which make it about a million times worse than new engine oil. Nobody is talking about metals. Damien mentioned PAHs - e.g. benzo-a-pyrene. Diesel fuel is not carcinogenic. Diesel exhaust is. There is a lack of understanding in your comments.

You post your MSDSs and damien and i can post all the studies on the composition of used oil.
Using used oil to treat wood is about the same as using creosote. There lots of studies which show that it leaches back out of the wood over time. For that reason it is now banned for most applications.

Note it is also illegal to burn used engine oil in an engine as some have been suggesting.

I'm a chemical engineer who has worked across this area. As frank notes, there is no shortage of evidence around this. To avoid emissions issues, used oil can be used as fuel in industrial burners (I think >800 degrees C). Burning at lower temperatures (including in cars) causes problems, particularly generation and release of PAHs. It is also reprocessed fairly easily.

There is a metal risk in used oil, mainly Cd and Cr abrasion from hardened surfaces. The Cr is a problem since it oxidises to Cr6. The organics are the main problem though.

Most current organic termite treatments are highly specific organic compounds. This contrasts with historical treatments like Dieldrin which were (and still are) very dangerous). CCA is a chemical treatment and (is meant to) not leach from timber.

/Damien

Originally Posted by p38arover

Into my local LR mechanic's drums.

Some garbage dumps, e.g., Eastern Creek, take it as do some local servos which have mechanics workshops.

My wife recently saw mentioned in a local paper about Super Cheap Auto taking it if it was in containers.

Here we are: Oil Recycling - Supercheap Auto Australia

Oddly enough, even though it was in our local paper, the only store in NSW which is doing it appears to be Grafton.

I have recently been disposing of my used oil in the bin outside SCA's shop at McGrath's hill.
Don.

Actually there is not. I was talking about burnt fuel in both cases as you indicated it is safer to burn waste oil than it is to use for oiling wood. Both are many times more dangerous when burnt and put off more releases of carcinogenic and toxic fumes. Having said that both are carcinogenic in raw form to an extent as all organic and chemically synthesized oils are, just they are within acceptable limits for public health and studies have shown this when people have had prolonged exposure, same as exhaust emissions. The only way using the waste oil for fuel source is reasonably safe is to have the exhaust dispersed through a wet scrubber (I know this as I used to run spray dryers with waste fuel).
I actually think you are missing the point. Nearly everything on this planet has some sort of carcinogen risk and of course waste oil is but at acceptable levels, just look at Corn, there is more risk eating corn as it is known to cause cancer from glass shard production when growing, then we could start on corn syrup.
As said all are within world health standards and there are no real rules regarding disposal of waste oil in regards to carcinogen risk in oil form, just environmental compliance. I am certainly not saying there is no risk at all, but that risk is within limits currently and may or may not change in the future as further studies are undertaken.
Creosote is a significantly different product based on coal and why it has now been banned in most countries.
Am I saying there are not carcinogen risks from waste oil? No, but they are within World Health limits. Then it also depends on what oil, what engine and the service intervals.
And your last quote that it is illegal to burn in most engines, well that is not quite correct, it can once filtered.
So on your thought process, it is fine to burn diesel in an engine and produce toxic exhaust gasses, but not ok to use waste oil on wood?
Yes some will leach out of wood, but it is minimal and the extent would be no more than your car leaking oil. I have done regular checks on stumps that I have oiled and found very minimal contamination to the surrounding area. The termicide I use is many more times more toxic and carcinogen risk than the oil I have used to treat and this stuff is applied directly to the soil, but that is acceptable.
MSDS sheets are easy to obtain from any manufacturer. As said if there was such a high carcinogen risk of using or handling waste oil there would be acts, regs, standards and codes of practice based on the carcinogen risk, which there is not to classify it as a hazardous substance and it is not classed as such for handling or transport.
As below at present is suspect only and taken directly from MSDS -

DELAYED HAZARDS
Suspect cancer hazard. Contains material which can cause cancer. Risk of cancer depends
on duration and level of exposure.
This product contains material which can cause birth defects.
This product contains material which can cause Iyng, liver, kidney, skin, and/or central
nervous system damage.

This is one from the US as it is only being considered in Australia now for use in place of normal oil MSDS. The link will not work but is in the NSW govt planning website.
One for petrol waste oil and apart from PPE basics as with normal unused oil is not much and only really anything around misting to exposure.
[ame]http://www.coastandvalleyoil.com.au/data-safety-sheets/petrol-engine-oil-msds2.pdf[/ame]

Originally Posted by isuzurover

Right back at you.

Used oil is full of highly carcinogenic combustion by products which make it about a million times worse than new engine oil. Nobody is talking about metals. Damien mentioned PAHs - e.g. benzo-a-pyrene. Diesel fuel is not carcinogenic. Diesel exhaust is. There is a lack of understanding in your comments.

You post your MSDSs and damien and i can post all the studies on the composition of used oil.
Using used oil to treat wood is about the same as using creosote. There lots of studies which show that it leaches back out of the wood over time. For that reason it is now banned for most applications.

Note it is also illegal to burn used engine oil in an engine as some have been suggesting.