sbreheny
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Dangers of White Phosphorus
Hi all,
I recently obtained a small (2 g) sample of white phosphorus. I would like to see a tiny amount, maybe 0.5 g, burn spontaneously in air or at least
glow. I am trying to find out good information on the hazards involved. Obviously, WP can cause burns, and is poisonous if you eat it. However, it is
considered very poisonous by inhalation, too. I've seen LC50 figures as low as 3mg/kg for inhalation. But how exactly does WP become
aerosolized/vaporized? It seems that it would react with the air so quickly in such a high surface area form - producing the much less toxic P2O5.
Would nitrile or latex gloves, a fume hood, and goggles probably be adequate protection for burning 0.5 gram?
Sean
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woelen
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Why burn the phosphorus? It is not that spectacular. If you have seen burning red P, then you can imagine how burning white P looks like, it is very
similar. Just an orange flame which produces a lot of white smoke.
If you really want to burn some, take a pea-sized piece of white P (cut off under water from your main piece). Using tweezers transfer the piece to a
dry paper tissue, briefly dry it and then put it on a concrete or ceramic tile and light it. I would not do this inside, it gives incredible amounts
of acidic smoke, which is bad for furniture, tools and so on (especially iron tools easily start rusting).
There is no need to be afraid of poisoning yourself if you burn the white P. All of it is converted to oxide (either P4O6 or P4O10) and I would not
worry about inhaling elemental phosphorus.
Always be prepared to have premature ignition of the white P and also be sure that you never touch the white P with bare hands!
[Edited on 15-8-14 by woelen]
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Pyro
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as Woelen said, it's unimpressive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oke8GinWDG8
it does make an amazing amount of ''smoke''
all above information is intellectual property of Pyro.  |
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sbreheny
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I guess I am most interested in seeing it glow in the dark due to slow reaction with the air. I was also under the impression that it usually does
catch fire spontaneously in air if all the water dries from its surface.
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jsc
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I definitely would not breath it, but it takes a lot to do serious damage. We actually use it all the time as a weapon which soldiers call "willy
pete". Apache helicopters can be loaded up with WP rockets and use them to mark targets, try to set shit on fire, etc. Obviously if the stuff were
super dangerous you would have Apaches dropping out of the sky with dead pilots.
Nevertheless, I wouldn't experiment with it unless I had a strong exhausted draft. Also, you can probably use an activated carbon respirator and
goggles to guard against it.
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