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MINERAL OIL

The television, film, commercial, industrial and even the high and low-end concert business have been using mineral oil mist for years to enhance any and all light beams and lasers. With the advent of new and safer technology this mist can also be used as a source which can be read on camera as fog, steam or dust with little or no residue when produced and emitted properly. This diffusion or dispersion, if you will, when used in conjunction with other effects is quite effective when attempting to set the mood of a specific shot atmospherically. Whether it be a musty cellar, a dusty basement or attic to fog in a dimly lit alley way late at night; mineral oil mist is the way to go. Because of its’ cost effectiveness mineral oil has also been used as a source to see steam coming up from a boiling kettle or to mock steam coming up from a city street manhole cover. Performers and bands also prefer to use mineral oil as a general fill to cover a room or venue while the house is being filled with patrons. The house lights wash or mask the mist until curtain when the house lights are out and the spots, lasers and other color beams come in. It’s not only safe, but an extraordinary effect seen from any corner of the room. Most performers welcome it’s tasteless, odorless properties for all the obvious reasons.

Also termed liquid paraffin and white mineral oil, this hydrocarbon mixture is produced by removing the lighter hydrocarbons from petroleum by distillation, followed by charcoal filtering and additional distillation steps.¹ The final product is colorless, tasteless, and generally odorless (when cold). Mineral oil is used in drugs applied to the nasal membranes and as a laxative. It is used as a solvent for inks in the printing industry and as a general lubricant.²

Mineral oil mist is considered to have low toxicity. The IARC has determined that there is no evidence that the fully solvent refined oils are carcinogenic to experimental animals in either skin painting or feeding studies.³ However, the IARC has determined that, based on epidemiological studies, there is sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in humans of uncharacterized mineral oils containing additives and impurities.⁴ Fortunately, most of the mineral oils in use today are free of additives and impurities because of improvements in the refining process.⁵

In a study of mineral oil mist exposures in machines shops where the average airborne concentration was 3.7mg/m³ (the maximum short-term concentration measured was 110 mg/m³ ), no increase in respiratory symptoms or decrement in respiratory performance was observed in the employees.⁶ There have been no reported cases of illnesses in other studies, in a variety of industries, of human exposures to mineral oil mist concentrations which averaged less than 15 mg/m³.⁷

THE OSHA PEL, NIOSH REL, and ACGIH TLF for mineral oil mist is 5 mg/m³ , TWA for up to a ten-hour exposure. The OSHA and NIOSH short-term exposure limit for mineral oil mist 10 mg/ m³.

REFERENCES

1. NIOSH [1986]. Congressional testimony: Statement of J. Donal Millar, M.D.,Director, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control, Public Health Service, Department of Health and Human Services, before the OSHA Informal Public Hearing, May 5, 1986. NIOSH policy statements. Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

2. Procter NH, Hughes JP, Fischman ML [1988]. Chemical hazards of the work place. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Co.

3. Osol A (editor) [1980]. Remington’s Pharmaceutical Sciences, 16th edition.

Mack Publishing Company. Easton, Pennsylvania.

4. Osol A (editor) [1980]. Remington’s Pharmaceutical Sciences, 16th edition.

Mack Publishing Company. Easton, Pennsylvania.

5. IARC [1984]. IARC monographs on the evaluation of the carcinogenic risk of chemicals to humans. Volume 33. Lyon, France: World Health Organization, International Agency for Research on Cancer,

pp. 87-168.

6. Kane ML, et al [1984]. Toxicological characteristics of refinery streams used to manufacture lubricating oils. Journal of Industrial Medicine, 5:183-200.

7. Ely TS, Pedley SF, Hearne FT, Stille WT [1970]. A study of mortality, symptoms, and respiratory function in humans occupationally exposed to oil mist. Journal of Occupational Medicine, 12:253-26.