mericad193724
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Unusual Chemical Symptoms???
I live in the NJ, USA. Here it is summer with temperatures in the 90s. I played around with some chemicals last week and have developed these symptoms
---> Sore Throat, Cough, Runny/Stuffy Nose, and Weakness ----> basically the COMMON COLD....the only thing is its the MIDDLE OF SUMMER!!!! Is
it possible that I somehow got irritated from chemicals. The past week I have used...HCl, Acetic Acid, Ferric Chloride, MnO2, MnCl2, KNO3, Iron
Hydroxide, Iron Acetate, and very tiny bit of Chlorine gas given off by MnCl2 synthesis.
Could the Common cold like symptoms be from chemicals???
Mericad
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12AX7
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I'm sure you'll find that in any MSDS. But I don't know why it would be unbelievable to get sick in summer. Unusual yes, but not impossible...
The more pertinent question is, have you used your chemicals safely?
If you haven't made contact with any of the chemicals, the only possibility is chlorine based vapor from the HCl, FeCl3 and chlorine gas of course.
Those don't usually do much to you, it's pretty strong so you choke on it and get out before it hurts you too much.
Tim
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mericad193724
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Ill check out the MSDS. I did all the experiments outside in my driveway because there is always some air movement. Chlorine was given off by 5g MnO2
and a lot of HCl, so little, I smelt nothing at all.
I made no physical contact with anything. It is possible that I could have inhaled some fine particles from the powders (MnO2, MnCl2 and KNO3).
That would explain sore throat and coughing. Is a stuffy nose a bodily response to something irritating like that. I have been "sick" for 2 days.
Mericad
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Darkblade48
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I don't see why getting sick in the summer is unbelievable, when I was young, I often got sick once during the summer (between May - June) and another
time during the winter (November - December).
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woelen
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The chems you were playing with are not really toxic. Even if you inhaled some of fine particles, I don't believe that you could get sick of them.
In summer, people can get sick of all kinds of stuff from grasses, flowers (hay-flu). I think this is more likely than that you became sick of these
chemicals.
I also would not be concerned about possible chlorine inhalation. If you did not even smell any chlorine, then you did not inhale any appreciable
amount. If you go to a swimming pool, you also get chlorine.
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YT2095
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you`re Just as likely to catch a cold/flu in the summer as any other time, with the exception of a Harsh winter and then you`re less likely.
as for the chems, other than Chlorine gas or possibly Nitrosyl chloride (the effects you`de notice right away), there`s Nothing that will really harm
you (unless you ate it, and again, you`de know within minutes).
\"In a world full of wonders mankind has managed to invent boredom\" - Death
Twinkies don\'t have a shelf life. They have a half-life! -Caine (a friend of mine)
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neutrino
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What tends to happen to me during the summer:
-Lie down in bed with blanket
-Decide it's too hot and take the blanket off entirely
-Decide it's sorta cold and plan on putting it back in a few minutes
-Wake up in the morning and go Oh Crap
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12AX7
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FYI, manganese tends to present Parkinsons-like symptoms; I'm not sure how reversible the damage is, but from what I've read, after the source is
removed, the symptoms go away after a few months. I've heard of it being absorbed through the skin (a potter working for weeks on clay with a high
MnO2 content, which colors it black), inhalation (weldors beware: various steels contain 0.5~5% manganese) and I imagine ingestion. I'm not sure what
kind of acute (as opposed to chronic, as above) symptoms appear. Meh, hell..read the MSDS... 
Tim
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Marvin
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Chlorine/HCl possible.
Oxidisers and free radicals like Cl2 and NO2 can cause cell death on a scale that tricks the body into thinking it has a virus. It then kicks off the
immune response. The tendency is to assume you weakened your immune system enough to get a virus, when generally the virus doesn't exist.
More severe exposure results in pneumonia symptoms with a risk of, particually with NO2 the body going into a kill-the-virus-or-die-trying like mode
such as pulminary edema. People can die hours or even days after the initial exposure has ended.
I had a bought of 'pnumonia' following a runaway oxidiation of a nitration reaction. I don't remeber the symptoms lasting longer than a day or two.
I didn't know about the link at the time, I was told later.
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chemoleo
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Yeah but with the common cold, as I have it right now  you have mucus and shit
coming out of your nose, blocked sinuses, and from your lungs. If it is yellow, it's bacterial (as with me), and if it is clear (i.e. the sputum) it
is viral. Oh, and I got this friggin cold at temperatures above 30 deg C, I just can't believe it
Anyway I VERY much doubt it is some kind of poisoning. You know the term hypochondriac?
Never Stop to Begin, and Never Begin to Stop...
Tolerance is good. But not with the intolerant! (Wilhelm Busch)
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woelen
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At the moment there is a small wave of flu going around in the Northern part of the Netherlands, while we have temperatures between 28 and 33 degrees
C in the afternoon. And no, these people are NOT experimenting with chemicals, so I guess it is some virus or bacteria going around. One of my
collegues also was sick for two days last week. So, for the OP, I would really not worry about chemical poisoning. Shit just happens, even in
mid-summer 
[Edited on 18-7-06 by woelen]
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Marvin
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Logic apears to have left this thread far behind.
chemoleo,
If what you have is bacterial, then it isnt the common cold.
woelen,
Ruling out a chemical cause on the basis other illness happens in summer without a chemical cause is also not sound reasoning.
Telling the chemically caused versions is fairly simple, they start within 24hours of a dose of something nasty, sore throat, mucas, cough etc. They
generally last a lot less than an 'ordinary' illness as the damage stops almost as soon as the exposure does. Most people will know how long they
take to deal with a typical cold virus.
chemoleo,
You know the phrase 'ignorence is bliss'? Its not true you know.
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nitro-genes
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Completely off topic:
The green and the yellow chemoleo was talking about is always preceeded by clear fluids running from the nose.  So, I always thought that the immune system is so occupied fighting the rhinovirus (the cause of almost all
common-cold-like-disease) that bacteria get the change to get a piece of the action too...
Seen the chemicals he used btw, and the manner in which they were used, it seems highly unlikely that this can be the cause in any way. I noticed that
when you collect and work with a lot of different chemicals you can get a little paranoid at some times, especially when you just start with it. Don't get met wrong though, there are numerous chemicals that require extra care in
usage, but reading every MSDS is a good way of becoming completely paranoid of chemicals...
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chemoleo
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| Quote: | chemoleo,
If what you have is bacterial, then it isnt the common cold. |
What is the bacterial equivalent of a cold called then? English isn't my native language...
The symptoms between viral and bacterial 'colds' can be very similar, and are often distinguished by the colour of the mucus.
Well, I rarely get the viral variety of colds, only the bacterial ones. They start with me feeling very shattered ('knackered') for no reason, and a
slight tingle in the back of the nose, or the occasional innocent cough. Two days later, the nose may be slightly blocked, and it goes away if it was
a mild cold (substitute with Marvins word for the equivalent). If it is a heavy cold, it goes as nitrogenes described, runny nose, soon followed by
yellow stuff here and there, and a few hours later, no more breathing ability through nose, chesty cough with yellowness, blocked sinuses, and
sometimes blocked ears, feeling like you are looking at the world through a fuzzy tunnel.. No sense of smell, all you can do is taste sweet, salty
and sour. 'Hate it. Takes a while to shake it off too. I never used to get many colds until I went to bloody england . Not sure however about the opportunistic bacterial attack, nitrogenes , as your
immune system isnt usually THAT weakened by a normal viral cold. There should be plenty of antibodies floating about regardless, otherwise we'd all
die quickly from horrific secondary infections after a small primary infection.... If your antibody count on the bacterial cold has gone down enough
though... or if a new variant of the cold attacks you... then you may well get the two at the same time.
| Quote: | chemoleo,
You know the phrase 'ignorence is bliss'? Its not true you know. |
Eh, Marvin? But you are proving it true by literally spelling it out! 
[Edited on 20-7-2006 by chemoleo]
Never Stop to Begin, and Never Begin to Stop...
Tolerance is good. But not with the intolerant! (Wilhelm Busch)
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unionised
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I just wonder how bacteria or viruses (viri?) can read the calendar.
"Hang on folks, we can't infect this bloke"
"Why not, we are bacteria- that's what we do."
"Ah, yes, but it's Summer, so he's imune"
"What's Summer?"
"Good question. Waggons roll!"
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proton_force
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Nice joke - Well also I got a cold in summer, at 38°C, actually no great
thing, despite the small cold is pretty annoying, and that while I did only experimented a bit with Kaliumaluminiumalaun. So viruses or bacterias come
whenever your immune system gets weak a mom
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Brie
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I'm going to be the mom and say drink lots fluids and whatnot
Most summer colds are caused by dehydration, which can also wreck havoc with your immuse system. The main reason people get colds during the winter
is they are closeted together with other people who potentially have infections. Going out and playing in the snow instead of hiding inside with sick
people is quite possibly the safest thing you can do...
That, and we're endotherems, I'm sure our bodies can handle a drop outside in temp w/out completely going nuts and saying "come and get it!" to all
virii and bacteria. Getting a "cold" is quite a misnomer, unless you're temperature has been significantly lowered to actually affect your immuse
response. If that happens, you've got other problems
Of course its always in the last place you look for it. What do you do, find something and keep looking?
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vulture
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Meh, I got a nasty bacterial throat infection in the summer of 2004. One day I was fine, the next day I could barely speak and it lasted for nearly
goddamn six weeks. Still don't know what caused it.
One shouldn't accept or resort to the mutilation of science to appease the mentally impaired.
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Marvin
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Its also helpful to note that sunstroke produces fever symptoms and is very likley to happen in summer.
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