Here's the topic for today - please share your thoughts in a comment!



If we're talking about construction or manufacturing materials, I don't think so. It's the end product, not the material itself that could be a problem. Also, people need to have access to such materials to come up with new applications, so it would be counterproductive to stop them from having them. If, however, we're talking about energy-active materials that could be used for weapons… that might need to be controlled, much like uranium and such are now.

There's also logistics to consider. Most hazardous material is difficult to transport and store. It's not like I can keep uranium under my bed or cylinders of liquid nitrogen in my garage. Just think about how volatile gases and liquids are stored and transported today. Even gasoline cans are pretty well regulated. And the propane for your gas grill?

I work in a petrochemical storage facility which is right next door to a generating station and underground is crisscrossed by pipelines full of hazardous substances. As well as checking in all the deliveries and outgoing shipments of even more noxious controlled chemicals. It's very well regulated and they go crazy over spillage.

I'm sure there will be more hazardous stuff in our future and they'll regulate the hell out of it in developed countries and let workers die like flies in developing countries. Compare the USA to Nigeria. All Nigerian petro-chemical workers take the first plane for the US that they can get.

The stuff we have already is a lot more controlled than most people realize. All kinds of licenses and permits are required to transport and store a lot of things we take for granted from asphalt to xylene.

And then there are all the hazardous chemicals we all have about the house like chlorine, toluene, methyl ethyl ketone and the like. That you can get away with storage in a cool, dark spot and lots of hazard labels. But storage in bulk requires licenses and permits and is well regulated. They don't call MEK methyl ethyl Bad stuff for nothing.

bravo1102 wrote:
There's also logistics to consider. Most hazardous material is difficult to transport and store. It's not like I can keep uranium under my bed or cylinders of liquid nitrogen in my garage. Just think about how volatile gases and liquids are stored and transported today. Even gasoline cans are pretty well regulated. And the propane for your gas grill?

I work in a petrochemical storage facility which is right next door to a generating station and underground is crisscrossed by pipelines full of hazardous substances. As well as checking in all the deliveries and outgoing shipments of even more noxious controlled chemicals. It's very well regulated and they go crazy over spillage.

I'm sure there will be more hazardous stuff in our future and they'll regulate the hell out of it in developed countries and let workers die like flies in developing countries. Compare the USA to Nigeria. All Nigerian petro-chemical workers take the first plane for the US that they can get.

The stuff we have already is a lot more controlled than most people realize. All kinds of licenses and permits are required to transport and store a lot of things we take for granted from asphalt to xylene.

And then there are all the hazardous chemicals we all have about the house like chlorine, toluene, methyl ethyl ketone and the like. That you can get away with storage in a cool, dark spot and lots of hazard labels. But storage in bulk requires licenses and permits and is well regulated. They don't call MEK methyl ethyl Bad stuff for nothing.

Well sure, that's true. I should have phrased this question a bit differently as I was thinking of new and different types of things to what we have now, but all of this is good.

A classic way to extrapolate into the future is to ask “if this (current practices or whatever) goes on…”

So often the best place to start is how they handle the stuff now. Get some HAZMAT handling literature from various agencies like OSHA and go from there.