[ros3]

Hi,

Recently I have noticed an unusual issue I have with Diesel fuel. This change has happened to me in the last several months. When I fill up with Diesel fuel at the garage, I can taste and smell the Diesel fuel on my breath, and hands etc for some time after. It feels as though the vapours from Diesel fuel, emitted from the nozzle, are 'binding' to something in my body. It typically stays lingering for around 1 hour before slowly reducing. Its not overly powering, but definitely enough to be noticeable. This never used to happen to me.

I'm just wondering if perhaps there is something internal to my body (bloodstream and tissues for example), that is causing the Diesel to bind to it, and then my body has to gradually eliminate the Diesel.

I might have been exposed to something a while back (Alum), and wondering if it could still be somehow locked into my system, and the Diesel is binding to it?

Alternatively, are there any substances which a human could be contaminated with that the Diesel would bind to strongly? What type of organic substances, in general, does Diesel have an affinity? for, in that the Diesel mixes easily with?

I feel like my body is being exposed to something, and this is one of the weird side effects. I also have noticed that I have an unexplained higher temperature than normal, without any fever.

Thanks for any opinions, I know its a bit of a weird one!

Cheers

[Borek]

No, there is nothing that the diesel can "bind" to in your body. If anything, you might become oversensitive to the diesel smell. Sometimes I get overwhelmed with the smell coming from our washing machine (nobody but me can smell that, so it is definitely some individual reaction of unknown origin).

[Enthalpy]

Perceiving a smell for long is common, and fuels are an example of that. Since we are ultra-sensitive to some compounds, it can take time for them to diminish below our perception threshold.

The composition of fuel changes from one batch to the next. It depends on the source of crude oil and of its processing. Refineries make a good job of providing useable fuels from extremely varied crude oil, but all they can guarantee are global properties, like the density, the flash point, the volatility, the octane or ketene numbers, and more. If the crude oil consists of much aromatic (jargon for benzene rings) molecules, you find these in the fuel; if the crude contains straight and branched hydrocarbons, the fuel contains more of them.

The smell of most materials depends on ultra-minoritarian compounds in them. You often have majoritarian compounds that smell little, and 1/1000 of the composition that makes the smell because we are 100,000 times more sensitive to that one. This makes smells not quite reproducible. Finding the odorous compound(s) can be difficult. The "typical" odour of mains gas results from traces of mercaptan added to it. As well, white spirit can be "deodorised" be removing minor components.

Or sense for odours depends much on individuals. It's determined by genetics and uses a big part of our genome. Some people have specific receptors that others lack.

Could clothes bind the odour?

Maybe some parts of our nerves or brain take an hour to deactivate after a receptor has stopped signalling an odour?