On Wednesday 02 May 2007 7:47 pm, mborg...@att.net wrote: > Point is, is this the same stuff that pets are dying of, is it not???? > I only care if this product is NON TOXIC. > > There are hundreds of chemicals out there that will do a fantastic job on everything but they are toxic. I have actually lost customers for I would not use any toxic chemicals. > > Again the question was, is this the same stuff that is killing pets, or not!!! > Hi.
According to the previously cited article in Wikipedia, It is not. They say: " "This article is about the chemical substance called melamine. The term "melamine" is also (inaccurately) used to denote melamine resin, a plastic material made from melamine by polymerization." This is what it says at the hyper text link to melamine resin: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melamine_resin "Melamine resin or melamine formaldehyde (also, incorrectly, melamine) is a plastic material made from melamine and formaldehyde by polymerization. This plastic is often used in kitchen utensils or plates (e.g. Melmac) and is the main constituent in high pressure laminates such as Formica and Arborite and of laminate flooring. Melamine tile wall panels can also be used as whiteboards. Melamine resin is often used to saturate decorative papers which are directly laminated onto particle board; the resultant panel is often referred to just as "melamine" and is frequently used in ready-to-assemble furniture and inexpensive kitchen cabinets." "A special form of melamine resin is melamine foam, used mainly as a cleaning material." at the hyperlink for melamine foam it says: "Melamine foam is a foam-like material consisting of a formaldehyde-melamine-sodium bisulfite copolymer. The foam, because of its microporous properties, may remove otherwise "uncleanable" external markings from relatively smooth surfaces. For example, it can remove crayon, magic marker, and grease from painted walls, finished wood, and hub caps. The open cell foam is not only microporous, but its polymeric substance is also extremely hard. This means it is actually working like sandpaper but on a very small scale, getting into tiny grooves and pits in the subject being cleaned. On a larger scale, the material feels soft. Because the bubbles interconnect, its structure ends up being more like a maze of fibreglass strands than like the array of separate bubbles in, for example, styrofoam. Melamine foam is safe to use for cleaning as long as the manufacturer's instructions are followed. If applied to the skin, especially in sensitive areas such as the face, irritation may occur. The substance needs to be dampened to work properly. It does break down rather rapidly, so a given block of foam generally lasts only a single intensive scrubbing session, though it can be used repeatedly for much smaller marks. While the name-brand "Magic Eraser" is made by Mr. Clean (Procter & Gamble), the foam itself is manufactured by BASF under the name "Basotect" and was already a common product before this new use was discovered. Other companies have also begun cutting it up and marketing it for its cleaning properties, either under other names, like Coralite Ultimate Sponge, or as a generic product. The foam also has other interesting properties: it has high sound insulation efficiency and is also flame resistant. It's also very light: replacing the traditional foam in aircraft seats, an Airbus A380 can lose 600 kilos (1320 lbs).[citation needed] Melamine foam has been used for decades to create whiteboards, kitchen cabinets, soundproofing materials, as a fire-retardant material (but not as insulation, because it allows air to pass through its structure)." The reason for the skin irritation is that it is a micro-fine abrasive, so rubbing it on the skin causes abrasions similar to a rug burn. It is of course still a plastic and one may want to avoid it for that reason but I think it is clear from the above that it won't be easy. Also obviously from the above it is regularly used in the preparation and serving of food. -- L T R Registered linux user # 280295 Associate member #4758 of The Free Software Foundation itisi...@gmail.com -- The Silver List is a moderated forum for discussing Colloidal Silver. Instructions for unsubscribing are posted at: http://silverlist.org To post, address your message to: silver-list@eskimo.com Address Off-Topic messages to: silver-off-topic-l...@eskimo.com The Silver List and Off Topic List archives are currently down... List maintainer: Mike Devour <mdev...@eskimo.com>