Synthetic Motor Oil Is Destroying The Planet

The point should be that no automotive fluids should be dumped on the ground.

They can, for the most part, be degraded in a compost pile, but the best solution IMO would be to recycle the oil. Oil, synthetic or dino, can - under proper treatment- be recycled into high quality lubricants.

This just helps remind us how far we need to go the educate people on the problem.:banghead:

Profile:

View this thread:

========

Didn't get past duh header...."Title of Subject".......

Didn't read the replies..........

jest wanted to make ONE........

~~ oo L O

......as to the "Title of the Subject"..........

well............

SO ARE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There is no problem if you simply bring the oil in to be recycled. Since there are laws already against dumping oil into the environment, there is no need for any new laws or bans or any other regulation.

I will continue to use synthetic motor oil and continue to bring the jugs of the used stuff in to be recycled.

A far more useful message would be to not dispose of any household chemicals in the backyard. Indeed a much bigger problem is the overuse of fertilizers, persticides and weed killers which runs off with every rain and is captured in the water supply.

Profile:

View this thread:

I'm still waiting for the rest of the equation: harm(pouring removed syn on backyards in USA) > harm(?)

What was it you were comparing this too?

-more harm than pouring it into a volcano - Likely -more harm than pouring dino onto the backyard - Not Likely -more harm than pouring syn in backyards across Australia - Likely -more harm than pouring it on backyard without removing from vehicle

- Not Likely

2/4=%50 This brief analysis seems inconclusive. I say you need to only listen to the voices when they speak in complete thoughts.

The words "Greater" and "Than", a match made in heaven.

Calvin

I lost a ton of hydraulic oil due to a seal failure a couple of years ago. (Well, really about 5 gallons)

It killed the grass, but that is all we noted.

I tilled it in and fertilized it with a general fertilizer. Now, it is invisible. The soil bacteria, aided by the fertilizer, have assimilated it.

It isnt a good thing to do, but even severe spills can eventually be assimilated back into nature, by this very nonscientific observation.

Same thing is done to clean up oil pits, etc. Often they innoculate with a special strain of bacteria, but even that is not needed.

Popular Science magazine has published plans for an 'oil pit' to be used for the purpose of properly disposing of used motor oil. This basically consists of using a posthole digger to make a suitable hole, filling it with gravel, and layering some soil on top. Used oil is then poured in for disposal.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

How many years ago did they publish that?

Like you, Noozer, I cant believe that a mag like Popular Science would publish something like that under todays condition of legislation.

"Roger Blake" wrote

3 years ago, you said:

- Of course I would not want to give the impression that I'm totally

- without environmental consciense. For example, I'm careful about

- disposing of used motor oil properly. I use a proper oil pit, as

- described in Popular Science Magazine, to dispose of the stuff.

- (Briefly: dig a hole with post-hole digger, fill with gravel, top

- with light soil. Pour used oil in and it's absorbed into the ground.

- Works like a charm!)

And you were told:

-- This decades-old technique is now illegal, you know, because it can

-- pollute groundwater. All you're doing is making a mess for someone

-- else to clean up later. This is a little better than pouring it into the nearest

-- river but it's not ethical.

And 2 years ago...

- Another option is to use an oil disposal pit as described in the "Hints

- From the Model Garage" section of Popular Science magazine. A post hole

- digger is used to make a suitable hole in the ground, which is then

- filled with gravel and topped off with fine soil. Used oil is poured

- in, and by the time your next oil change rolls around it is absorbed

- into the ground.

-- This has got to be a joke response. You can just put it down the the hole in

-- your outhouse. Remember that pretty rainbow in your water is from the oil. Its

-- really ok for you to drink!

--- Nah. You should put a little on your breakfast cereal every day to

--- get rid of it.

Since the "Model Garage" stopped running in 1969, don't you think your "environmental consciense" is a little out of date? Of course, back then asbestos wasn't dangerous, smoking was good for you, and installing seat belts might lower sales because it makes the car look "unsafe".

Yes, well, back then we had the power company spraying used PCB-laden transformer oil on the dirt roads by the line right-of-ways, to keep the dust down. Turned out that was a bad idea too.

The issues, though are that the olefins are harder for biological agents to break down than the paraffins of petroleum oil.

--scott

My two immediate reactions:

(a) one would want to see this study (preferably in a peer-reviewed journal) rather than just a sketchy and rather alarmistly titled news report about it; and (b) it comes off as a bit of a strawman argument because pouring used motor oil of any sort out on the ground (in places that allow land disposal of it at all) is already considered to be a distant third behind recycling it or, failing that, burning it for energy in appropriate equipment.

Even if it is worse than conventional oil, the right answer would seem to be not "avoid synthetic oil" but rather "dispose of used oil properly."

Absolutely not. The plans were fine when they were published and I seriously doubt that any significant change has taken place in the short period of time since then. My Popular Science oil pit continues to work quite well, thank you very much.

They also don't say what they mean by 'synthetic'. WRT to motor oils 'synthetic' is not a single data point, but a continuum of 'syntheticness'. What base stocks are we talking about Group III, PAO, Ester what? If they pulled quarts off the shelf then we will never know what they tested because both the base stock and add pack blends will be trade secrets. Did they source their own base stocks? I doubt that. If they just poured out some quarts and watched what happened then there's ZERO control because they couldn't know what was in the bottle no matter what marketing copy was on the label.

This is just bad science. They claim that synthetic oil pollution persists in the environment longer but they don't tell us exactly what is was they thought was synthetic oil. They tell us that they found synthetic oil was more damaging to wildlife than conventional. Did they really inject some of each or none into animals to see? That's two very broad claims without any evidence of actual studies.

HEY KIMY! Better luck next time.

Calvin

=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D

Dear Mr. Blake, your home address is urgently needed.

~:~ MarshMonster ~sips his crownroyal..takes a toke...and wonders if you would like to make a wager, on who pays for the soil sample tests......IF THEY FAIL~ ~:~

=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D On Apr 11, 7:10=EF=BF=BDam, "MasterBlaster" - without environmental consciense. For example, I'm careful about

=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D

gawd help me Blaster.............

i think i like you.

rotflmao

~:~ marsh ~sips his mushroom tea....takes a toke...~ ~:~

If the plans are still kosher, then why are there not any more recent articles available? Could be that it hasn't been mentioned recently because it's obsolete. After all, how often do you see any articles about how to manufacture products with asbestos in 'em? FWIW I lived next door to someone with an oil pit in his yard. All of the trees died for about a hundred feet in all directions.