From Wikipedia: Industrial
Argon is produced industrially by the fractional distillation of liquid air in a cryogenic air separation unit; a process that separates liquid nitrogen, which boils at 77.3 K, from argon, which boils at 87.3 K, and liquid oxygen, which boils at 90.2 K. About 700,000 tonnes of argon are produced worldwide every year.
Yes, you do need energy to compress and super-cool the liquid air down towards -200 C, but other than that, it is a simple enough process.
Will the EPA regulate the CO2 fire extinguishers next? After all, they DID all but ban the more effective commercial fire-fighting gasses – even on Navy ships where “winning in combat” by fighting fires and explosions is evidently less important than preventing the hole in the ozone layer.
From the original article and its EPA quotes ...
Many of the 72 inert ingredients targeted for removal, are on the list of 371 inert ingredients identified by the petitioners as hazardous. The 72 chemicals are not currently being used as inert ingredients in any pesticide product. Chemicals such as, turpentine oil and nitrous oxide are listed as candidates for removal.
Never mind the bureaucratic gobble-de-gook about “inert chemicals” being simultaneously “inert” AND “hazardous to your health” …. (I do understand the use of “inert” in pesticide mixes of active and inactive of course.)
But, look at the partial list above: Each of the chemicals listed is commercially, has 6 to 8 PAGES of MSDS safety sheets that MUST BE PROVIDED by OSHA “law” EVERY time the chemical is shipped to a job site or is used at a jobsite. Why does the EPA think the chemical – especially when it used in used as a INERT ingredient in a physical mixture that is not chemically reacting when used properly? (Even sand, wood chips, Argon, NO3, NO2, even N2 will kill if used improperly!)
Oh, by the way – The Ar is probably originally added as an “inert ingredient” in a pesticide list as a joke by some fed-up and disgusted chemist in the pesticide company: “Nobody could be that stupid. But the lawyer said we have to include everything. OK, fine. I’ll include Ar, N2, and O2 and water in this list – that the fed’s will never read anyway – because Ar is a naturally-occurring mixture in air, and we have air mixed i our product ,,,, Yuck, yuck,”
Inexpensive
Effective
Easily maintained
And best of all - easy to clean up.
Someone should put nitrogen on the list.
Isn’t argon used in most double and triple-paned glass windows? And in the vaccuum tubes still used in some electric guitar amps?
I don't know if it's still used in today's windows, but that still leaves tens of millions of windows out there that some busybody bureaucrat will eventually getting around to mandating they be replaced.
Probably with, wait for iiiiiiiiiiit, single-pane windows!
The real problem is PROTONS, NEUTRONS, and ELECTRONS.
WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO BAN THESE DEADLY THINGS????
Argon is used in neon lighting too.
Next they will outlaw dihydrogen monoxide
Most TIG welding will be “outlawed”.
So what. The EPA is banning Kryptonite too!
They are simply twisted Mother Effers! Seriously.
We are governed by religious zealots who believe that mankind
is destroying the earth.They can and will do just about anything.
The bubbles in your beer, soda and champagne are pure CO2 and of course should be banned as well as bread which uses CO2 from the yeast to rise. Beans and certain legumes create the greenhouse gas methane in the human gut which of course gets expelled into the atmosphere in flatus ...ban them too. However banning argon which is totally inert and is already in the atmosphere and just being recycled back to the atmosphere when used industrially is even more ludicrous.
The population control crowd wants NOTHING that improves farm productivity!
Why doesn’t the EPA just call for the elimination of H2O and Oxygen? That would solve all their problems.
Regarding the “hole in the ozone layer” hypothesis, which underlies(pun intended) the banning of flourocarbons like Freon - “A faulty premise still leads to an invalid conclusion.”
The “Hole In The Ozone Layer” was discovered by Dr. Dobson at Halley Bay in the Antarctic back in 1954. GangGreen then claimed Freon released chloride ions when it broke down and the ions were destroying the ozone layer. Further, they claimed this would remove Earth’s UV protective layer and we would all die of cancer, sunburn, ad nauseam.
Two minor flaws were that the oceans are salt water, and release huge amounts of Chloride ions because that “salt” in the salt water is sodium chloride.
The second largest source of atmospheric chloride turns out to be volcanoes. Man produced additions to the atmosphere are insignificant.
GangGreen is dedicated to the destruction of American technology and capitalism. They have been successful by destroying one small bite of the American economy at a time, much as pygmies eat an elephant.
“If GangGreen said it, it’s probably sh*t!”
The real goal is to ban capitalism - one useful tool at a time...
“Will the EPA regulate the CO2 fire extinguishers next?” What about evil soft drink/pop makers? Where’s the outcry? What a clown car we have running this country now. And it ain’t funny clowns either.
I would tell a chemical joke but all the good ones ARGON.