When the pandemic started, everyone hurried to buy the most important, most essential items - which includes toilet paper, for some reason - to get ready for the ensuing misfortune.
It was absurd, and all it actually caused was an artificial shortage not due to the pandemic but rather directly by the hoarding.
US Consumer Product Safety Commission Issues Warning
Well, ever aiming for self-improvement, we humans have indeed learned our lesson, right? Wrong - and this time it's absolutely risky. Following a large Colonial Pipeline hack and anxiety over possible fuel shortages, people in Virginia, Florida, and North Carolina are struggling to preserve as much gasoline as possible after there has been a declaration of an emergency by the states.
With insufficient designated fuel canisters to reach everyone and hysteria making individuals think insanely, people are turning to any necessary means to carry their gasoline which was snatched, with the use of standard household storage containers and presumably plastic bags to hold the gasoline.
Videos and photos of people filling up plastic bags spread quickly all over the internet - and were later disclosed by fact-checker Snopes to be many years old - but nevertheless, the situation seems to be terrible enough that the US Consumer Product Safety Commission has been prompted to pass a warning on Twitter.
Also Read: E. Coli Bacteria Used to Create Gasoline
Gasoline Discharges Highly Inflammable Fumes
Using a moderate approach, they placed a warning against using plastic bags as gasoline containers, but encourages people not to look down on those doing so; rather, aid and warn them of the peril. Following the US Consumer Product Safety Commission's tweet, they explained: "We know this sounds simple, but when people get desperate they stop thinking clearly."
Although it may appear apparent to many, there many good reasons why volatile and flammable liquids should not be put in plastic bags. Firstly, majority are not watertight and are not meant for holding liquids at all - in the old video, you can clearly view gasoline leaking from the bag. Alongside this, gasoline discharges fumes that are highly flammable into the surrounding environment, this is why approved containers are sealed.
Gasoline Dissolves Plastics
In fact, the Portable Fuel Container Safety Act 2019 that was approved in 2020 made it unlawful to move gasoline in containers without appropriate fire mitigation features, because of the possibility of explosions within plastic gas cans. Lastly, gasoline usually dissolves many types of plastic, both those that are used in constructing containers, which is the reason containers must be approved.
It is very possible that gasoline will chew through plastic bags without hesitation, leaving the boot of many cars accommodating a ticking time bomb. Fuel shortages and other insufficient supplies of essential materials always lead to panic, but it is crucial to think about many people's needs instead of few.
Related Article: Synthetic Gasoline One Step Closer to Becoming Commercially Viable
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