"Virus Hoaxes"
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Don't Use Cell Phones At The Gas Pump Warning July 2002 This warning is often combined with the Static At The Gas Pump Warning. The rules for safe refueling from the Petroleum Equipment Institute's website are, Turn Off Engine Don't Smoke Never Re-enter Your Vehicle Note there is no mention of cell phones. In fact, the Institute explicitly says, "PEI has not documented any cases of cellular phones causing fires at gas stations". Older desk phones that ring with bells have an electromagnetic ringer that operates on about 100 volts and does make sparks. Modern cell phones do not have the power to spare on electromagnetic ringers and thus use low voltage (5V) buzzers that do not make sparks. The keypads also are low voltage and do not make sparks so there is nothing in a properly working cell phone that could light a fire. Most cell phones are also sealed to keep out moisture. These seals also keep out the gasoline fumes. On the other hand, one of the newer cell phones with a backlit display has a 600 to 900 volt power supply for the cold cathode fluorescent used to light the display. If such a phone were damaged such that one of the high voltage wires were broken, it could produce sparks. Another possibility is that pulling the plastic phone out of a pocket charges up the phone with static electricity which could also discharge making a spark. Of course, this applies to any plastic objects that you might pull out of a pocket. Static charging such as this is the reason you should not re-enter your vehicle while refueling. The act of sliding across the plastic car seat can charge you and the vehicle with static electricity that could then be discharged in a spark as you reach for the refueling nozzle. That said, we have found one documented instance where it appears that a cell phone was the ignition source for a fire. The U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Materials Management Service has documented a flash fire on an oil platform that ignited when an employee pulled out a cell phone and flipped it open. They do not indicate how the phone caused the fire, only that the fire ignited when the phone was opened. Keep in mind that this was on an oil platform where there are a lot more flammable fumes then there are near a car being refueled. An update to this safety alert says that after testing the phone, it is unlikely to be the cause of the fire. While the risk of a cell phone causing a fire is extremely low, several companies, states, and even some countries have put up warning signs about using cell phones while refueling. This ZDNet article does a pretty good job of putting things in perspective. Hopefully, most of you have heard that it's unsafe to smoke or use your CELL PHONE while pumping gas. Now there's another safety warning you should know about concerning static electricity. Below is an email from Pat Cabiling who works at ChevronTexaco's Richmond Refinery. To sum it up, here are the: Four Rules for Safe Refueling 1) Turn off engine 2) Don't smoke 3) Don't use your cell phone - leave it inside the vehicle or turn it off 4) Don't re-enter your vehicle during fueling
Copyright 2004 by Jay Jennings
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