• MNByChoice@midwest.social
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    10 days ago

    The liquid, which the Palo Alto Fire Department has deemed to be a nonhazardous mixture of borax, lye (also called sodium hydroxide) and green dye, spilled out of the Tesla office at 1501 Page Mill Road onto Hanover Street.

    • LostXOR@fedia.io
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      10 days ago

      How is lye nonhazardous? Can’t it cause serious chemical burns? Maybe it’s just in low enough concentration that that’s not a concern.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        10 days ago

        You don’t want concentrated lye, but diluted lye is safe enough to make soap. My question, and I’m not the only one asking in this thread, is- is a mixture of borax and lye a good coolant for a supercomputer?

        I guess you could argue that the green is so they would recognize a coolant leak…

            • kindernacht@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              0
              ·
              9 days ago

              They use this mixture at my work as well. Flushing out large sub freezing cooling systems. We don’t dump it out on the street though.

              • mhague@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                0
                ·
                edit-2
                9 days ago

                If it’s anything like the places I work, they specifically tell you to be very careful about what you wash away.

        • MechanicalJester@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          9 days ago

          The lye concentration used to make soap is rather nasty if it gets on your skin and you don’t deal with it immediately. Source: I’ve made a lot of soap from scratch.

    • Nougat@fedia.io
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      10 days ago

      “Storage of sodium hydroxide requires a City permit, which Tesla had not obtained.”