Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/74547
A CLOSER LOOK Coolant/antifreeze C This 2013 Volvo 670 that sports DuPont's gleaming Glacier White color scheme. By Sean Randall oolant/antifreeze does double duty thanks to the properties of certain ingredients, most often ethylene glycol. It has a lower freezing point than water, so it works as antifreeze by bonding with water molecules and making it difficult for them to create crystals. Because it has a high- er boiling point than water, it also helps cool the engine. Here's a closer look at four key ingredients in Exxon Mobil Delvac Extended Life Coolant/Antifreeze. ETHYLENE GLYCOL It's produced from ethylene, a flammable gas. Ethylene glycol is poisonous and tastes sweet, which accounts for the stories you've heard about dogs dying after lapping up cool- ant. Ethylene glycol has been used in making dynamite and also is used as a wood preserva- tive or to treat partially rotten wood. It can be a biological preservative, replacing formaldehyde. Entomologists some- times use it in "killing jars," which preserve the insects' wings. SALTS Also by-products of mak- ing ethylene glycol, some of the salts are inorganic, like table salt. Others are organic acid salts, similar to lactic acid salts, found in yogurt, or citric acid salts, found in fruit. Exxon Mobil Delvac Extended Life Coolant/ Antifreeze relies primarily on ethylene glycol, though some coolant/antifreeze products instead use methanol, propylene glycol or glycerol. 22 | Overdrive | August 2012 DIETHYLENE GLYCOL A poisoning incident involving a medicine that contained DEG, a by- product of manufacturing ethylene glycol, spurred a 1938 act of Congress from which the Food and Drug Administration gets most of its power. DEG has been used as a sweeten- ing additive in products like wine and toothpaste, though in minuscule, non- fatal amounts. DEG also is used as a humectant, meaning it helps keep products such as cork, ink and glue from getting too dry. SODIUM BENZOATE This preservative can be found in many acidic foods, such as vinegar, carbonated drinks, pick- les and jams. It's also used in whistle fuel mix, a powder that, when compressed and ignited, emits a high-pitched whistle in fireworks.