HI ttystikk.. I agree that in perfect conditions, you'll end up with low proportions of those secondary combustion byproducts.. Chem 101 will tell you that combusting a hydrocarbon will give you water and co2.. I've done a fair bit of research. I worked in a warehouse operating a forklift, i've worked in restaurants with gas powered appliances and poor exhaust systems, and lived in houses with gas ovens and no exhaust at all. It was actually an experience i had working in a kitchen with poor ventilation that caused some health issues which really prompted me to start digging through chem journals to understand what could be happening. Just because people do it, doesn't mean it's safe. Especially when you look at the influence of the fossil fuel industry on the regulatory environment in developed countries.. Look at health outcomes in developed countries. I've read a lot of legitimate scientific articles on the topic. My OWN personal conclusion and opinion is that the IDEAL conditions that would result in JUST co2 and water being produced don't actually exist. You can get close.. but it always produces enough secondary byproducts to merit concern..Benzopyrene is one of the most carcinogenic substances known to man and it doesn't take a large dose rate to bioaccumulate. It's very hard to measure secondary byproduct production rates because we don't even know all of the PAH's(polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) that are produced, and most haven't even been studied for safety. PERSONALLY i would tend to be cautious when it comes to burning anything in a closed space, even with exhaust at a high rate. Whenever i look at some technology and ponder "is this safe?" i think of Thomas Midgley.. He invented TEL(tetra ethyl lead), the lead based gasoline additive.. Scientists assured him it was safe. To demonstrate the safety to the public, he held a press conference and washed his hands in TEL and sniffed the fumes.. "look how safe this stuff is" he was trying to demonstrate.. he died at 55 of a neurodegenerative disorder and we all know now how dangerous TEL is. He also invented chloroflourocarbons.. we know how that went. When in doubt, follow the precautionary principle. I'm not trying to scare people, I just want them to think critically about this stuff.
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However, we should be aware that the actual combustion process is far from ideal - that is
complete and perfect combustion. The combustion process (thermal decomposition and
oxidation) of many organic compounds (in particular those contained in the waste) is not a
perfect process that produces only carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and water. In this
process usually a large number of intermediate products of decomposition and oxidation
are formed which then are not further decomposed." -Pollutant Formation in Combustion Processes
Tried to share the link to that paper, but i'm too new. google will point it out.
