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Attention CD/DVD Burners...

RickRick Sector 14 Studios
...you may want to read this report by NIST (National Institute of Standards Technology) on CDR and DVDR longevity.

[url]http://www.itl.nist.gov/div895/gipwg/StabilityStudy.pdf[/url]

(Short version: the silver/gold alloy phthalocyanine CD Recordables are the best.)

-R.

Comments

  • Re: Attention CD/DVD Burners...

    [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Rick [/i]
    [B](Short version: the silver/gold alloy phthalocyanine CD Recordables are the best.)[/B][/QUOTE]

    ...containing cyanide? If so, I wonder if that leeches out into the soil when put in landfills.
  • Cyani[b]n[/b]e. :p
  • croxiscroxis I am the walrus
    Dude the stuff is found in fruit seed. Its the concentration that is important.
  • JackNJackN <font color=#99FF99>Lightwave Alien</font>
    Yeah, that's what I was thinking...

    Cherry Pits for example...

    ;)
  • croxiscroxis I am the walrus
    You can use them to prepare a leathle dose too. I have the instructions locked away so I can't get to them.
  • [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by croxis [/i]
    [B]Dude the stuff is found in fruit seed. Its the concentration that is important. [/B][/QUOTE]

    That's not exactly always relevant (that cyanide exists in nature). I knows this firsthand for other problem compounds.
  • Anthocyanine is a pigment found in flowers.
    Phtalocyanine is presumably a similar compound.
  • Phtalocyani[B]n[/B]e is indeed a pigment, an organic molecule with a complicated formula (which I can't look up right now). Actually, as far as I can remember without looking it up, the term actually designates a class of pigments. Again, I'd have to look it up to be sure, but is likely that those pigments are based on structures very similar to those of natural pigments.

    Cyani[B]d[/B]e is an inorganic compound, which is lethal in high concentrations.

    The "cyan" in those words comes from the greek, indicating a bluish color (as in Cyan ink in CYMK printing).

    I'd be more worried about the plastic in the landfills than about the minute quantities of metal and organic pigments in those CDs.
    Except that I think that plastics are not that much of an environmental problem beyond the volume they take in landfills.

    (I'm actually a materials chemist, not a Whitestar Captain. ;))
  • croxiscroxis I am the walrus
    I know Cyanide is CN-. Is this the same one that they kill themselves with in the movies or is there a specific cantion (antion? I always get the two mixed up) that cases the damage?
  • To my superficial understanding (never really thought about it)... cyanides which people have used as poisons and weapons *ought* generally be salts (negative cyanide ion/group linked to some positive, generally metallic ion).

    I would guess that, when they are used to harm... it generally includes either pulverizing them, spreading droplets of their solution, or getting the poisonous ion to detach from the compound, forming a gas.
  • croxiscroxis I am the walrus
    I think they are salts. I know that the poison kills by interupting ATP production within the cell. I am just not sure if its the CN- part does the killing or if its a specific positive ion or whatnot.

    [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanide[/url]

    [quote]To deal with the cyanides contained in many foods, the body has an enzyme (rhodanide synthetase) which can convert small amounts of cyanides to the harmless sulfur-containing thiocyanate (SCN−). Cyanides are also essential components of vitamin B12.[/quote]

    [quote]In larger amounts, cyanides are harmful. Symptoms of moderate poisoning include vomiting, convulsions, deep breathing, shortness of breath and anxiety; more serious cases result in convulsions, loss of consciousness, and death after apnea and heart arrest. The lethal dose for adults is 200–300mg of potassium or sodium cyanide, or 50 mg of hydrogen cyanide.[/quote]

    So it looks like the negative CN is resposible for the ill


    [quote]Cyanide ion kills all aerobic organisms by shutting down the respiration in cells. It interrupts the electron transport chain in the inner membrane of the mitochondrion because it binds more strongly than oxygen to the Fe+3 in cytochrome a3, preventing this cytochrome from combining electrons with oxygen.

    Contrary to popular belief, cyanide does not bind well to ferrous hemoproteins, such as hemoglobin, the mechanism which makes carbon monoxide toxic. One of the therapies for cyanide poisoning is to convert part of the hemoglobin of the blood from ferrous hemoglobin to ferric; this creates a pool of binding potential that can divert cyanide from the cytochromes it poisons. This is done with the compound 4-Dimethylaminophenyl.[/quote]

    I was right it shuts down a major component of ATP.

    Also it looks like it doesn't work as fast as it does in the movies.

    [quote]The cyanide salts are fast acting "suicide pills". When they reach the stomach acids, cyanide ions are released; therefore they work faster on an empty stomach. [/quote]
  • Basically yes... it blocks electron transport to oxygen (which is supposed to form water)... and notably obstructs oxidative phosphorylation of ADP back into ATP.
  • croxiscroxis I am the walrus
    Amazing how such a simple molicule can do so much damage
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