In message , Rod
writes
wrote:
Grimly Curmudgeon wrote:
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember saying something
like:

===Swarfega===
Paraffin gel with additives. Paraffin alone makes quite a good
substitute.
Years ago (when I was young and stupid(er)) I discovered that cleaning
my mucky oily hands in clean engine oil or kerosene really worked.
Luckily I didn't do it for too long before a bod from the lab next door
spotted me doing it and informed me with some passion that I was
cruising for skin cancer.
I haven't done that since and have (nearly) always used barrier creams
too.
Paraffin is still used medicinally, and AFAIK is not a known
carcinogen.
Engine oil I'm less certain about, but if it were known to be
carcinogenic I think a lot more precautions would be taken at garages,
and there would be stark awrnings on all engine oil containers..
NT

It is indeed used medicinally (various tear products, for constipation,
on gauze dressings, etc.) - but it was removed from products such as
dried vine fruits a number of years ago for some reason that I have
completely forgotten. And how does the definition of paraffin in
medicine differ from the blue flame fuel?


it's just a difference in length of the molecule

--
geoff