Thread: why is it dangerous to talk on a cell phone while pumping gas?

They did a show about it on mythbusters. They say it's not the phone, it's static electricity from getting into your car and back out while you are pumping. You are supposed to ground yourself before touching the pump nozzle again.

Action/Results: The boys assemble a blast chamber at Fred Stoke's Gas and Oil Memorabilia Town, and equip it with an old car seat (with fuzzy tiger print cover), a cell phone and a Leyden jar which Adam has created to hold a static charge and release a spark. To create the static charge Adam has rigged a "panty static generator" using a pair of ladies' panties and some plastic tubing. The boys fill the chamber with gas vapors and call the cell phone inside, which leads to no explosion. They attempt to ignite the gas fumes with the panty generator's static charge and still get no result. The boys retire to the lab to experiment with gas vaporous and air ratios, and different sources of ignition, during which time Adam loses quite a bit of hair from standing too close to the flame. They return to Fred Stoke's and try to blow the chamber with a higher concentration of gas in a finer spray. They end up scrapping the Leyden jar in favor of something that creates a longer spark, to which they get their "big boom". The boys conclude that cell phones generate some heat, but not enough to ignite gas vaporous. They do emphasize that a static spark will ignite gas fumes at the pumps with potentially devastating results.

Ohmigosh!!! My mommy told me not to do something??????

Call an ACLU Lawyer and sue her!

Or, better yet, just listen to her,It may be possible she's not a complete moron.

I really don't think there is much risk from the phone. I see a number of people mentioned the whole Mythbusters thing.

How about this...

If you are in the process of dispensing a class 1 flammable fuel, don't you think your attention should be on the fueling process?

In fact it is dangerous... just read the warning stickers next time you are at the gas station (every Mobil has a big picture of a cellphone with a cross through it). Why, you ask? there is a slight chance of any electronic device igniting vapors escaping while you're fueling the car and causing an explosion... so... dont talk on the phone while refueling!

Static electricity. Not very likely but possible.

Saw incident on TV, reco not doing it, did start a fire. Probably static caused, but I sure wouldnt want to test it the hard way.

the static electricity from the phone and its signal and stuff can spark and ignite with the gas fumes and you'll blow up. Your phone should either stay in your car or be turned off at the gas pump... or both would be best.

You should also: touch the car first before touching the gas pump, so if you have any static electricity, you discharge it safely. And you should not get in and out of the car while pumping gas because you can build up the static electricity by sitting and standing and by opening and closing the door.

All of this is for the same reason that you do not smoke or light matches or anything at the gas pumps... and you turn off the car when pumping gas. It's dangerous... you could die.

Theory goes that the frequency or waves emitted from your cell phone can cause a spark and therefore an explosion.

Fact goes that thats not possible.