Background database

There are many different ways to use information. I sometimes use it as a little psychological cigarette break.*

All week I've had a reference work, in the form of an electronic database, open in the background:

Since its inception in the early 1950's, Sax's Dangerous Properties of Industrial Materials has become the primary source for those who need to evaluate the hazardous potential of substances used in commerce. Sax's is the only reference that combines data on toxicology, flammability, reactivity, explosive potential, and regularity information for over 28,000 substances.

It contains nothing I must to look up, but I like the feeling of the information around me while I work, as a fidget-spinner. If I need a break, I dip in. I'd let you choose a letter to start with, but since you can't, we'll pick Q. Oh look, here's quinine.**

mf

C₂₀H₂₄N₂O₂

PROP

Bulky, white, amorphous powder or crystals; bitter taste. Mp: 174.9°. Sol in H₂O, EtOH, C₆H₆, and CHCl₃.

SAFETY PROFILE

Human poison by unspecified route. Experimental poison by subcutaneous, intravenous, intramuscular, and intraperitoneal routes. Moderately toxic experimentally by ingestion. An experimental teratogen. Human systemic effects by ingestion: visual field changes, tinnitus, and nausea or vomiting. Human teratogenic effects by ingestion: developmental abnormalities of the central nervous system, body wall, and musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, and hepatobiliary systems. Experimental reproductive effects. Mutation data reported. Can cause temporary loss of vision. Quinine dermatitis is an occupational hazard to barbers particularly, and generally to people who work with quinine tonics, medicaments, or cosmetics. An irritant to mucous membranes. Combustible when exposed to heat or flame. Decomposes on exposure to light. When heated to decomposition it emits toxic fumes of NOx. Used to treat malaria.

In case you were wondering, mf means molecular formula. NOx is nitrogen oxides. I think for a moment about the word noxious, but I know that comes from the Latin noxa (harm). I like the fact it is a vampire substance: it decomposes on exposure to light. I only take time to read over the technical vocabulary once, challenging myself to recognise what I can in one pass, like a puzzle.

And then you go back to what you were doing, refreshed.

* Do other people do this?

** As I was writing this a mosquito, themed with quinine because of its anti-malarial properties, buzzed over to the screen.