RE: RADSAFE digest 3058

["Bradshaw, Keith" <Keith.Bradshaw@nnc.co.uk>]

> Amen.  In college, I worked a season in a tomato packing house.  The
> tomatoes that go to the stores as "ripe" were the color of a Granny Smith
> apple when they went through the packing line.  Then they were stored in
> an
> airtight cooler the size of a basketball court until they were about to be
> shipped.  24 hours before shipping, the cooler was flooded with ethylene
> gas
> (ethylene oxide?). 
> 
	No I think it's ethylene (not ethylene oxide).  I believe it's a
plant hormone that hastens ripening.  I'm not aware that it's a carcinogen.

	Ethylene OXIDE, like organic peroxides, is a *radiomimetic*
substance, in that it has very similar biological effects to radiation.  I
suspect this is because it causes free-radical formation.

	Personal thoughts only

	keith.bradshaw@nnc.co.uk




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