Or at least take omeprazole first!
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I didn’t realize that was present in the stomach.
I did read that the cells lining of the stomach are replaced like every 4 days.
The reason is clear to anyone who has had a burp bring up a little… 
Yeah, your stomach most days has a pH around 1 from the HCl, and you’d definitely don’t want to get that on your hands (since of course it’s designed to break down meat (e.g. you)). The body then neutralizes it as soon as it leaves the pylorus (output of the stomach) by releasing bicarbonate (baking soda essentially) so it doesn’t burn your duodenum (early part of the small intestine, not surprisingly the most common site we see ulcers in - more common than the stomach). Of note this acidity is also protective since it kills most (but not all) bacteria you swallow, so that when you aspirate at night (and we all do) tiny quantities of stomach contents you don’t end up with pneumonia. That’s why we try not to keep people on chronic acid suppression unless they really need it.
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Wow, some great info there!
The pneumonia from inhaling one’s food was recently the fifth leading cause of death in the US. I was having this type of pneumonia every 2 months for over a year(despite antibiotic treatment) before diagnosing myself with lung cancer. Once I stopped the cancer, the pneumonia ceased to be a problem. As a side note, the first project that took me to the international science fair, consisted of a simulated stomach, complete with acid drip rate, churning, temperature control, and pH monitoring while aliquots of antacids were introduced. Placed 3rd in the chemistry division. For a laugh, here’s a news clip from the period just before winning the regional. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=19780515&id=evZLAAAAIBAJ&sjid=C-4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6744,6502254&hl=en
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Thanks for the detailed information!
Maybe you can help with the whole idea of dangerous materials.
In my case I have some formaldehyde sensitivity from a job doing formica work. I know that some plastics decompose into formaldehyde, but I don’t really know how to think about the amount generated versus their real danger (or irritation).
There are lots of these byproducts, and I have been thinking (for instance) about what I am inserting into my neighbors air stream when venting out the window.
Any thoughts?
I picked up some Formica at the ZeroLandfill event and was curious about this. You may find this MSDS from Formica interesting as they do specifically address laser cutting and formaldehyde on page 7.
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Thanks, I know to avoid formica these days even though I used to love working with it.
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Awesome! Unfortunately, there aren’t any ZeroLandfill events anywhere in New England. I sent a link to that website to some community organizers in town who loved the idea and forwarded it on to others. Who knows where that will lead. Thanks for sharing!
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The SDS, the new word for the MSDS, is composed by a roomful of people thinking up what could be hazardous (alongside some guidelines on what needs to be considered/included.) The quality of the data on the SDS will vary. But even when doing a great job, that group is going to be thinking along the lines of their targeted customer. So a plywood manufacturer will be thinking of particulate hazards (sawdust) and possibly people burning scraps in a fire pit. Tiny quantities of whatever being burned by a laser could produce different compounds. Fabric, including leather, manufacturers will be thinking along the lines of cutting, sewing, and being gnawed on by young children. Things they may not have to list because they’re inert in normal use could be potentially hazardous when vaporized. For a lot of compounds there is simply no good data.
You have to use the SDS/MSDS as a starting point, but if you’re particularly worried research if someone else has used it and then try some test cuttings. If you’re still alive, nothing new is growing where it shouldn’t, your house is more or less undamaged and the glowforge is still working proceed according to your best judgment.
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Interesting!
I was surprised to learn that the act of eating provokes an immune response, but on thinking about it, how could it be otherwise - dumping foreign matter into the body like that.
I didn’t know about the neutralizing action.
Thanks for the insight.
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Aspiration pneumonia (we docs hate that term, since what other mechanism is there for bacteria to enter the lungs - and penetrating wounds don’t count) is a very common cause of death in the elderly (particularly after a stroke or with dementia). That is different than we all aspirate at night while sleeping, theoretically sterile (but highly acidic) stomach contents, which we have evolved to handle at night…
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The most dangerous food for me is Triscuits. I love them, but if I am not careful, I am in trouble. I’ve learned that not talking while eating is the most important step with me. When I first discovered it, the distance I could walk before I was out of breath declined rapidly over a few days. I had no cough, but I knew I had either a heart or lung problem, or both. Antibiotics cleared it up quickly, so I knew it was primarily a lung problem. I had to manage the bacteria levels over 4 months to get over it, as the bacteria was the only thing that could rid the food from my lungs.
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Your immune cells (primarily macrophages) can quite happily eat triscuit (that’s how absorbable sutures work, they get eaten), but depending on the size it can take a very long time (and remember the inside of your airways are outside the body, so not very efficient). If I put that bit of triscuit in your abdominal cavity it would be eaten fairly quickly…
Actually the most dangerous food to inhale is a peanut. This is highly specific, and peanut oil turns out to be specifically toxic to the airway lining and produces a spectacular immune response resulting in rapid scarring of the airway (often requiring laser ablation with a bronchoscope - and no you can’t self do that with a GF!!!!)
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Thats good news, I am planning on doing an 8 foot tree on my wall with 12x12 pieces of wood. Would be much nicer to use flooring.
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A great looking project. See the preceding comments from @henryhbk [quote=“henryhbk, post:153, topic:975”]
SDS isn’t what you want, that’s hazardous to YOU not the laser. For instance HCL in tiny quantities won’t be hazardous to you, (every time you belch a tiny amount of HCL comes out since your stomach is full of it) but is highly corrosive to the laser. I mean heck saline solution is obviously safe (you’re about 40% saline solution) but pour it on your glow forge (don’t) and you have a brick. MSDS is about human safety. So the glues, coatings, etc may be totally fine, but when decomposed by the laser may destroy the electronics.
[/quote]
And then from @caribis2. [quote=“caribis2, post:164, topic:975, full:true”]
The SDS, the new word for the MSDS, is composed by a roomful of people thinking up what could be hazardous (alongside some guidelines on what needs to be considered/included.) The quality of the data on the SDS will vary. But even when doing a great job, that group is going to be thinking along the lines of their targeted customer. So a plywood manufacturer will be thinking of particulate hazards (sawdust) and possibly people burning scraps in a fire pit. Tiny quantities of whatever being burned by a laser could produce different compounds. Fabric, including leather, manufacturers will be thinking along the lines of cutting, sewing, and being gnawed on by young children. Things they may not have to list because they’re inert in normal use could be potentially hazardous when vaporized. For a lot of compounds there is simply no good data.
You have to use the SDS/MSDS as a starting point, but if you’re particularly worried research if someone else has used it and then try some test cuttings. If you’re still alive, nothing new is growing where it shouldn’t, your house is more or less undamaged and the glowforge is still working proceed according to your best judgment.
[/quote]
Both good points, don’t know where else to look if you can’t use MSDS. I guess we should only cut Proofgrade products or paper. Oh wait - only paper that is rated as acid free! 
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SUPER excited about Zero Landfill! I signed up for the Denver chapter. Thanks for posting about them.
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At least do your research on the formaldehyde levels, which can be a huge problem in laminate flooring (Lumber Liquidators got hit with a $10 million dollar fine and thousands of lawsuits for selling Chinese-made laminate flooring in the US that was so formaldehyde heavy it was making people sick, and then I think they got hit again for sending out inaccurate formaldehyde tests to people who hadn’t sued yet.) @johnwills @smcgathyfay @printolaser
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Thanks for the fascinating information. Totally off-topic, but this is the kind of thing I love, so no way would I flag it. 
Did you stop by the faceting demo? I was there most of the show grin:
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