Aerosol

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This editable Main Article is under development and subject to a disclaimer.

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(PD) Photo: United States Department of Labor
Fire following a dust explosion that occurred in North Carolina plant that made rubber products for the pharmaceutical industry.[1]

An aerosol is a suspension of tiny solid particles or liquid droplets in a gas.

## Dangerous aerosols in industry[edit]

Some solids, suspended in air, can be dangerously explosive. Suspended coal dust in mines, or suspended flour or grain dust, in flour mills and grain elevators, can be dangerously explosive.[2][1]

## Consumer products delivered as aerosols[edit]

(PD) Photo: United States Department of Agriculture
Add image caption here.

Some modern consumer products, like paint, hair-spray, whipping cream, or penetrating lubricants, are applied as aersols. Products delivered as aerosols are typically distributed in pressurized cans, where the liquid to be delivered is pressurized by a gas called a "propellant". Air is rarely used as a propellant. Nitrous Oxide (laughing gas) is used as a propellant for edible products, like whipping cream. Some other products use light hydrocarbon gases, like butane or propane, which can pose a fire risk. In the late twentieth century chlorinated fluorocarbans were a commonly used propellant; but they are no longer used because it was found the expelled propellant was very damaging to the atmosphere's ozone layer.[3]

## References[edit]

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Combustible Dust in Industry: Preventing and Mitigating the Effects of Fire and Explosions, United States Department of Labor, January 2003. Retrieved on 2008-11-03.
2. ↑ Cleate R. Stepan, P.E.. Coal Dust Eplosion Hazards, Mine Safety and Health Administration, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Retrieved on 2008-11-03.
3. ↑ Ozone Science: The Facts Behind the Phaseout, Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved on 2008-11-03.