The answer to why brake fluid is a nasty, hazardous chemical: PCB's
Pity the poor people living downwind of that shop that mixes brake fluid
into waste oil for burning in their shop heater. If anyone knows the
name/location of that shop, please forward to me. Thanks.
Polychlorinated biphenyls are used in closed systems in electrical
transformers, capacitors, heat transfer systems, and hydraulic systems. They
are also used in paints, adhesives, caulking compounds, plasticizers, inks,
lubricants, carbonless copy paper, sealants, coatings, and dust control
agents. Their commercially-attractive properties include a high degree of
chemical
stability, low solubility in water, low vapor pressure, low flammability,
high heat capacity, low electrical conductivity, and a favorable dielectric
constant. However, because of health and environmental concerns, the
manufacture of PCBs has been largely banned in the United States.
Polychlorinated biphenyls do not break apart chemically when released to the
environment. Rather, PCBs accumulate in the tissues of living organisms,
resulting in increased concentrations of PCBs when they reach man.
Documented tests on laboratory animals show that PCBs cause reproductive
failures, gastric disorders, skin lesions, and tumors. Studies of workers
exposed to PCBs have shown symptoms of chloracne and other epidermal
disorders, digestive disturbances, jaundice, impotence, throat and
respiratory irritations, and severe headaches. Because PCBs are considered
carcinogenic (ref. ES&H Manual Section 5.17, Carcinogens), exposure must be
kept as low as reasonably achievable, using the controls discussed
throughout the remainder of this ES&H Manual section.
What's the name of that shop that is mixing used brake fluid with waste oil
and burning it in their shop heater? The EPA would like to pay them a
(unannounced) visit.
Some communities have a yearly household hazardous waste disposal day. Save
up your old brake fluid for that.
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