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From: (Gerald L. Hurst)
Newsgroups: sci.chem
Subject: Re: What is the difference between KEROSINE oil and ODORLESS MINERAL 
Date: 13 Jan 1996 07:49:09 GMT

In article <4d7hqu$>, (Alison Chaiken) says:

>What exactly is mineral oil, anyway?  Dictionary says, "a light
>petroleum distillate."  Does that mean that it's whatever combination
>of distillates are readily available and cheap at the time of
>bottling?  It seems surprising that mineral oil is non-toxic if it's

In the broadest sense mineral oils are simply hydrocarbon oils 
derived from petroleum as opposed to vegetable (or animal)
oils which are basically triglycerides. 

Petroleum products often contain poisonous components including
an array of aromatic materials and sulfur and nitrogen 
compounds. The "mineral oil" we see in the drug store is what 
the british call "petrolatum oil," a highly purified, mostly
aliphatic hydrocarbon oil which is usually clear as water
and virtually tasteless and odorless.  A cousin to this material
is petroleum jelly or petrolatum, which is made mostly of
aliphtic hydrocarbons of higher molecular weight.

Jerry (Ico) 

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