Coolant for the cooling system in your car comes under many brand names. Notwithstanding this, every product has one of two chemicals in it. The vast majority are comprised of 95 percent ethylene glycol. When you mix these products in a 50/50 mix with water in your car, you are effectively reducing the chance of a freeze or boil over. The ethylene glycol prevents the water from boiling or freezing at any temperature you are likely to run into. If you live in Siberia, however, all bets are off on the freezing problem!

There is one problem with ethylene glycol. It is very toxic. The Environmental Protection Agency has done studies and put out big warnings on the chemical. Why? When ingested, it causes depression, respiratory failure, heart attacks, kidney damage and brain damage. Other than that, it is fine!

Most of us are careful when it comes to using coolant. Anything that color can’t be good for you! Regardless, not a year passes without numerous stories of pets and children that are hospitalized or killed after consuming radiator coolant. If you’ve owned pets and had kids, you know they will sniff, lick, and put just about anything in their mouth regardless of how revolting it is. Coolant fluid is a unique color and seems to attract their attention. This can lead to disaster.

If you work on the car yourself, coolant storage is something you really need to think about carefully. Coolant is cheap and you don’t need it very often. Given this, I often just use what I need and then dispose of it. If you are insistent on storing it, the place you use needs to be somewhere that your pets and kids can’t get to. It may sound alarmist, but you are going to feel pretty stupid and guilt if your kid ends up in the hospital with kidney damage because they got into the coolant you left on the shelf. Again, this happens every year.

I enjoy working on my car. Being safe when doing so obviously is a smart move, but so is being safe with the toxic products you work with. If you must keep coolant around, store it in a manner that won’t lead to a tragedy.

About the Author:

Dirk Gibson is with DCJAutoParts.com – find aftermarket car parts to make you car purr like a tiger and perform like a puma.