SPI "Two-in-One" Easy Duster™ (11 oz)

Some considerations about safety and flammability


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Laboratory "duster" products are a lot less "generic" than they might at first appear.

Like most vendors, we are constantly striving to keep the selling price to our customers at the very lowest levels, especially in these days of budget deficits and shrinking research budgets. But we do not want to sacrifice when it comes to safety.

Today, all dusters being sold in the USA, Europe, Japan and much of the far east are all "environmentally friendly". They are approved by the US EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and also by governments of the EC and others.

Naturally there are differences in cleanliness of dusters which are filled in a variety of different plants. And there are also differences in moisture content, again because they are being filled to various standards. Clearly, a duster can being filled to the standard of chilling cocktail glasses at a bar (or blowing an emergency horn) is substantially different than for when they are being filled for the exacting applications of electron microscopy.


SPI Supplies offers our customers no choices: We offer only one product and that is based on the use of pure propellant 134a, which chemically is 1,1,1, 2-tetrafluoroethane (CAS # 811-97-2).

The product is nonflammable in both the liquid and also gas form. This is extremely important for laboratory use, since one absolutely does not want to use a product whose vapor could be ignited by a spark in a piece of nearby equipment.

And the product is filled in a filling facility that fills for the electronics industry which has the highest and most exacting cleanliness standards of all industries. The material going into the SPI Two-In-One OK Easy Duster Cans is moisture free, quadruple filtered for particulates, and as indicated, is completely nonflammable.

We urge our customers to use caution when purchasing a cheaper duster elsewhere. Specifically, you want to be cautious about any claim about their product being "US EPA approved" or "environmentally safe" that is made in a way that suggests that theirs is more environmentally safe than others. But even more important than that, you want to check out the precise composition because if it is filled with what is called 143a or R-143a, then you are looking at a duster that is indeed highly flammable. The slightest spark can make the vapor burst into flame. It instantly ignites when in contact with an ignition source such as a live circuit or spark, etc. Often times one can find dusters filled with 143a that are a bit cheaper, or where a big deal is being made about a few "more puffs", but this difference is not discernible by most, and furthermore, one should not be taking this kind of safety risk to get a few more puffs anyhow!

There are other flammable materials that are used in dusters today. Some dusters use either 152a straight or as a blend of 152a with other propellants. 152a is indeed somewhat cheaper in cost (relative to 134a) but it is highly flammable, especially in its liquid form. Those who manufacture this propellant in early 2003 have had to issue a letter cautioning those who use 152a to make additional "warnings" on their labelling which detail that this material has been known to combust when used in tight places where vapors can build up. It ignites under these conditions when in contact with an ignition source such as a live circuit or spark.

We hope that this has not been too scary to read, however, it seems to us that many users of dusters have a perception that they are "all the same". They are all most certainly not the same! Some like the SPI Two-In-One OK Easy Dusters are nonflammable. But others are highly flammable. Usually the cost is the determining feature as to whether are getting something that is highly flammable or something that is nonflammable and safe.

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Friday July 04, 2008
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