Exploding Cell Phones
I was told by someone the other day that I shouldn’t use my cell phone at the gas pump because it could ignite gas fumes. They retold an e-mail they had received describing such an incident. This one comes close to believable, but it smells too much like an urban legend.
Apparently, a number of people believe this to be true. Shell Oil actually released a warning about cell phones, really spurring the issue. There’s even a U.K. law that says ALL battery-operated devices must have a warning label about use in explosive atmospheres. Rather than rewrite manuals for each country, these devices arrive in the U.S. with the same warning labels. Wired has an article that covers all the controversy and clears things up. Let me summarize for you: don’t worry about it.
If you want to worry about explosions, consider the documented occurrences of pump fires that were caused by static electricity. People let the pump run, get in their car, rub their butts on the seat, return to the pump, pull the nozzle, and the static shock ignites the fumes.
Now, there are NO documented reports of cell phones causing gas explosions. My cell phone has, um, maybe 12 volts. Household static electricity commonly has 10,000 volts. A spark occurs when there is an imbalance in charge between two surfaces. Where is this going to happen in my phone? Maybe the switch? So just to be safe, I’ll make sure my cell phone is already on before I fill up.