How much does coolant toxicity matter?

[Jrill]

I'm looking for your opinion and hard-earned wisdom here.
I'm shopping for a new coolant brand and I started looking at the SDSs, particularly for Castrol MB50 and Sterlingcool 77....
And yeah there are some ingredients in there that don't sound good at all.

I don't want to constantly expose myself and coworkers to toxic chemicals or have to worry if I get some in my eye by accident...
But on the other hand I think of those over-the-top "known to the state of california to cause cancer and reproductive harm" warnings on everything, and I think of all the way oil and paint thinner and aluminum oxide dust that I'm exposed to, and I wonder if some fungicides and TEA in coolant is really going to be a problem.

What is your take?

 

[mhajicek]

I've been using Hangsterfer's 5080 for about 7 years, and I love it. It's basically food grade. I mix it with distilled water, and it never goes bad or gets stinky. I've splashed it in my eye and it didn't even sting.

 

[DouglasJRizzo]

Name brand stuff like Castrol or similar are not really that "dangerous" if used in accordance with instructions.
Most of those "Danger Warnings" are from people who tag that on just about everything.

 

[MaxPrairie]

It only causes cancer in California

 

[escapethewrmhole]

It's important to remember the SDS usually is for the concentrate.

 

[EndlessWaltz]

Have used Oemeta, Hysol, and Blaser. Stay away from the Blaser. Hysol warnings on the can seemed to have an extra one (air toxicity?) versus the Blaser but seemed like I did better with that. Oemeta has no warnings on it. Have not seen issues with it. When ever I do a change over it seems like I may have a lean condition despite refract. This is with any coolant and may cause rust spots. The second I see that I dump in more concentrate and after a week I am stabilized. I still wear gloves either way. Dermatitis is real. If all are around the same price per 55gl I would go with Oemeta.

 

[Mtndew]

What is your take?

My take is that you're overthinking it. Just pick one and use it.
If you spend all your time looking at warning labels you'd never leave the house out of fear for your life.

 

[BT Fabrication]

Have used Oemeta, Hysol, and Blaser. Stay away from the Blaser. Hysol warnings on the can seemed to have an extra one (air toxicity?) versus the Blaser but seemed like I did better with that. Oemeta has no warnings on it. Have not seen issues with it. When ever I do a change over it seems like I may have a lean condition despite refract. This is with any coolant and may cause rust spots. The second I see that I dump in more concentrate and after a week I am stabilized. I still wear gloves either way. Dermatitis is real. If all are around the same price per 55gl I would go with Oemeta.

I talked with the chemist at Ometa here as he is just down the road about the technical side of there coolant and others. and he had stated that certain coolants you shouldn't touch with bare skin as there are components in it like chlorides that are terrible to absorb through the skin. He is one of those guys that knew what he was talking about and every little detail about it all.
I have just looked around again for coolants and found Ometa and using the suggested Novamet 900. which works pretty darn awesome. used to have Qualichem 230 and it cut parts nice but I was having a ton of issues with something in it when parts needed to be welded afterwards. Im guessing it was the oil ratio in it as the refrac index was 0.97 and as you move further and further from 1.00 to 2.00 gives less oil in the mix. I believe the stuff im using now has 1.27 refratometer ratio to it.

 

[Jrill]

I've been using Hangsterfer's 5080 for about 7 years, and I love it. It's basically food grade. I mix it with distilled water, and it never goes bad or gets stinky. I've splashed it in my eye and it didn't even sting.

That’s awesome, ive been looking more and more at the 5080. So you have any problems with rinseablility? What materials do you use, and do you use anything besides tap water? Our water seems soft as far as I know, should probably get a test for it.

 

[Jrill]

My take is that you're overthinking it. Just pick one and use it.
If you spend all your time looking at warning labels you'd never leave the house out of fear for your life.

That’s a legit take. Thanks

 

[Jrill]

Have used Oemeta, Hysol, and Blaser. Stay away from the Blaser. Hysol warnings on the can seemed to have an extra one (air toxicity?) versus the Blaser but seemed like I did better with that. Oemeta has no warnings on it. Have not seen issues with it. When ever I do a change over it seems like I may have a lean condition despite refract. This is with any coolant and may cause rust spots. The second I see that I dump in more concentrate and after a week I am stabilized. I still wear gloves either way. Dermatitis is real. If all are around the same price per 55gl I would go with Oemeta.

The Oemeta, did they have a problem with a bad batch or was that another coolant I was reading about?

 

[mhajicek]

That’s awesome, ive been looking more and more at the 5080. So you have any problems with rinseablility? What materials do you use, and do you use anything besides tap water? Our water seems soft as far as I know, should probably get a test for it.

At my previous job we started out using tap water, which is extremely hard around here. We had rust and mineral buildup problems. Then we got a DI filter system and used only that, and all the problems went away. Now that I'm running a small shop in my garage I'm running a distiller to make my own distilled water for drinking and coolant.

As for materials, I run lots of Ti6Al4V-ELI, 17-4 H900, and a smattering of aluminum, assorted stainless, and occasionally 4140. Good performance, good rinsability so long as I don't let it dry on the parts. I highly recommend it.

 

[DavidScott]

The coolant concentrate is only a part of the possible toxicity, especially if the coolant has been in use for a while. Does it matter? Think about how much you ingest or absorb over a year breathing the mist and having it on your hands. Good ventilation, from the machine enclosure, and barrier cream make a massive difference in how much you are exposed to.

 

[IninefingersI]

Been using MB50 for years. Have no problems with it. I don't think the coolant is as much of an issue as what is in the coolant. Whatever coolant you use, if you let it get loaded with rancid tramp oil, bacteria, people using it as a spitoon, and God knows what other kinds of science projects are being cultivated in people's coolant tanks, it is going to be a problem. Clean coolant is happy coolant.

 

[Jrill]

At my previous job we started out using tap water, which is extremely hard around here. We had rust and mineral buildup problems. Then we got a DI filter system and used only that, and all the problems went away. Now that I'm running a small shop in my garage I'm running a distiller to make my own distilled water for drinking and coolant.

As for materials, I run lots of Ti6Al4V-ELI, 17-4 H900, and a smattering of aluminum, assorted stainless, and occasionally 4140. Good performance, good rinsability so long as I don't let it dry on the parts. I highly recommend it.

I’m trying to get a quote on it from somewhere local but haven’t had success yet… curious how much you’re paying for it?

 

[mhajicek]

I’m trying to get a quote on it from somewhere local but haven’t had success yet… curious how much you’re paying for it?

Price by the gallon, 5 gallon pail or 55 gallon drum:

1-54 $55.66
55-219 $44.56
220+ $42.34

 

[EndlessWaltz]

So did you guys see that story about how they tested the pools in VEGAS. HAHAHAH. Off the charts with bacteria and E. coli. Makes you wonder..

 

[Blaser Swisslube]

Hello! You're taking the right steps reading the SDS. For all our SDS data, click here. Feel free to private message us your name, location, shop name, and preferred contact method, we'll connect you with a rep in your area to help determine the right solution for your needs.

 

[kustomizer]

We had a young gal working for us some while back, her husband knocked her up and she got to wondering about all the chemicals in our shop, I tasked her with the job of getting a new MSDS for everything in the shop and let me know what she thought was the worst we had. In the end the one that bothered her most was liquid Tide we use in our tumblers, the same one she used to wash her families clothes, seems it is a better chemical compound to use in a shop than your wash at home. Our coolant has been a chevron soluble B which says on the can it is ok for contact with food in meat and poultry plants. Its not too bad if you get some in your coffee, I don't think I have tried it on chicken.