jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I mentioned that I was going to make a couple of snow globes, and a friend warned me not to use antifreeze, not that the idea had ever occurred to me. Most snow globes are made in China (Surprise! Surprise!), and they put some antifreeze in them to keep them from freezing during transport.

Actually, I can see the antifreeze being used for all snow globes because it sometimes gets cold in this country - cold enough for water to freeze inside a truck on an Interstate. As you probably know, antifreeze is poison, but it has a sweet taste, and that can be appealing to dogs and babies.

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

The toxin in many antifreeze fluids is Ethylene Glycol.

StanMac Loc: Tennessee

Wouldn’t vodka work as well as water? I keep my vodka in the freezer and it doesn’t freeze.

Stan

FreddB Loc: PA - Delaware County

That's due to the secret ingredient.
See above

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

That would raise the price a bit. There would have to be age-limit warnings on them. You'd need ID to buy one.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

flip1948 Loc: Hamden, CT

The addition of antifreeze would make the liquid more viscous ( thicker) making the snow fall slower which may be a desireable trait. However, the ethylene glycol in the antifreeze would make that trait dangerous.

flip1948 Loc: Hamden, CT

Several years ago there was a tailor in China who owned a chemistry book. So naturally he decided to open a chemical company to manufacture glycerin, a thick sweet smelling liquid used in things like cough medicine.

A short time later the "tailor turned chemist" discovered that it was cheaper to make ethylene glycol than glycerin and most people couldn't tell the difference...at least until they died.

He shipped the ethylene glycol in barrels labeled glycerin and somehow the purity on the labels increased at various points along its delivery route.

Soon a doctor in Argentina or Venezuela noticed an increase in deaths from poorer districts in his country and decided to investigate. He soon realized that these people lived in areas supplied with cough medcine the government had manufactured for the poor. After a chemical analysis it was discovered that the cough medicine contained, you guessed it, ethylene glycol instead of glycerin which he traced all the way back to the "chemist" in China.

The doctor figured nobody in the poorer areas questioned the deaths probably thinking, "of course they died, they were sick."

The fate of the chemist, responsible for hundreds of deaths, the Chinese government closed his factory, fined him $75,000 and took away the Chemistry book.

pendennis

A few years back (ca. 2014), the makers of antifreeze changed the formulation so that the product has a bitter taste. However, it hasn't reduced the number of poisonings.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Clear glue, glycerin, and baby oil are also thickening agents. I didn't know that ethylene glycol could be colorless.

Red6

This reminds me of the old compasses once used in aircraft. The aircraft compass is contained within an enclosure that was filled with a liquid to help damp out the compass movements. The liquid initially used was clear alcohol which did not freeze. Hence the name, which lives to this day - "whiskey compass".

As the story is told, once mechanics figured out the liquid was basically a clear whiskey, they would open them up and take a little nip. The compass makers then switched to clear kerosene.

sodapop Loc: Bel Air, MD

Propylene glycol could be used. Very close to Ethylene glycol but non toxic (And more expensive)

sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

StanMac is right. I store my vodka in the freezer and it does not freeze. I suspect that keeping it in the freezer must affect its volume for each time I look at it there appears to be less and less in the bottle. I thought about checking on it late at night to see what was happening to it, however, the bed was spinning and I was concerned that I would end up flat on the floor. I still haven't figured out why there is less and less in the bottle each time I check it. I've asked my dog if he has anything to do with it and he refuses to talk about it. His silence speaks volumes.

DeeAndre Loc: Boyertown PA

Funny!

marine73 Loc: Modesto California

You are taking a drink and don't remember doing it