Bunk Archeology: Barium in Jet Fuel Additive Stadis 450 [There Isn't Any]

Mick West

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A recent tweet By Jim Lee prompted me to look into an old story:

Source: https://twitter.com/rezn8d/status/807229209659711488

Stadis450 is an anti-static agent added to jet fuel, is barium, added in 1962, mandatory in all flights.
-rezn8d
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To understand what this means you need a little context. It's referring to the "chemtrails" conspiracy theory, which basically says the government is spraying stuff out of aircraft for some purpose. Frequently proponents of the theory name three common metallic elements (Aluminum, Barium, and Strontium) as being sprayed for either weather control, or climate modification. They test for these metals in soil and water, and find them because they are common in the environment. Jim Lee has his own version of the theory which is that the government is adding stuff to jet fuel. He's suggesting here that Stadis 450 (an anti-static jet fuel additive) has barium in it, and hence barium in Jet Fuel.

There are a couple of problems with this theory:
  1. There's no barium in Stadis 450, the elemental ingredients are: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur.
  2. It's added to the fuel at under 5 parts per billion, too small to do anything when diluted in the atmosphere.
So how did we get here? Well there are some precursors in the very early version of the chemtrail theory (pre-geoengineering) which started over fears that military jet fuel JP-8 was toxic. So back then then they would look at the ingredients of the JP-8 blend, one of which was Stadis 450, like back in 2002 on the Chemtrail Central forum.

posted 01-05-2002 08:36 PM Transition Underway for Modified Stadis 450 in Aviation Fuels
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Then on "Educate Yourself" in 2005
No need for EDB, mark. They have lots of poisonous goodies in there. Try this: http://www.desc.dla.mil/DocumentRepository/t83133e.pdf
...
•Stadis 450 (static dissipator)
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But the modern version of the Stadis 450 myth dates back to February 2009 to the defunct site chemtrails.cc, which said:
https://web.archive.org/web/2009022...s.cc/2009/02/16/the-not-so-secret-ingredient/
Static dissipators are of particular importance to atmospheric aerosol and environmental research, due to their metal content and their widespread use in commercial and military jet fuel [17, 8]. Octel Starreon Stadis® 450 is a static dissipator, comprised of dinonylnapthalene sulfonic acid and other organic solvents, and according to the product MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet), it contains two “trade secret” ingredients [18].

Although the “trade secret” ingredients are well protected by the manufacturer, a recent study contracted by the EPA [10] and other sources strongly imply that these ingredients are salts of barium and/or calcium. The EPA classifies this dinonylnaphthalene sulfonic acid, barium salt as a “HPV” (High Production Volume) chemical, meaning it is “produced or imported into the United States in quantities of 1 million pounds or more per year [12].”
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This is demonstrably false. Firstly static dissipators like Stadis have no metal content, and neither of the two links given mention metals. In fact the Stadis data sheet (from 2011) quite specifically says it contains no metals.
https://www.fmv.se/FTP/M7789-000193/datablad/M0729-465015_Stadis_450PDS.pdf
20161209-132050-iccnd.jpg

What seems to be the source of the error is that the writer on chemtrails.cc confused "dinonylnaphthalene sulfonic acid" (which is a listed ingredient in Stadis) with "dinonylnaphthalene sulfonic acid, barium salt" (which is not), because they were both listed in the EPA document. But they are very different chemicals. One contains barium, and the other (the one in Stadis) does not.

The "EPA study" that would continue to be cited as proof that barium was in Stadis does not even mention Stadis 450!. It is not a study of what is in anything, it's just a study of four forms of dinonylnaphthalene, including the one that's in Stadius, but has no barium in it.

Like many things in the chemtrail mythology these errors were pointed out immediately, but then ignored and the story was repeated.

In April 2009 it showed up on one of the older chemtrail sites Agriculture Defense Coalition.

In Nov 2009, in the Alex Jones "Prison Planet" forum

I'd prefer if any PPers have done research into Stadis 450 - if this story is true, it does go to explaining the high levels of Barium salts found in particulate data obtained right here in Oxford, UK. We all know how NASTY barium salts are to organic life.....
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In 2010 it came up on my other site, Contrail Science

MikeC says:
December 1, 2010 at 4:00 pm


the MSDS for STADIS 450 can be seen at http://www.laroute.net/data/docs/Stadis450.pdf – ther are a couple of “TRADE SECRET POLYMER” ingredients – one containing sulphur, the other Nitrogen.

Barium is contained in DINONYLNAPHTHYLSULPHONIC ACID – which has a wiki page if you ned to know more about it – see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinonylnaphthylsulfonic_acid. this is 10-30% of the product, according to the MSDS.

I can’t find any reference to just how much barium is in this stuff……but presumably it is only a fraction.
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I responded at the time, noting barium was not actually in Stadis

Uncinus (Mick) says:
December 1, 2010 at 5:02 pm
Getting a little afar from field here, but Dinonylnaphthylsulfonic acid is C28H44O3S (Carbon, Hydrogen, Sulphur, Oxygen). Barium would be in Barium Dinonylnaphthylsulfonate, C56H86BaO6S2, which is about 1% barium. That IS used as a fuel additive, but not in Stadis 450.
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The next year(2011) it showed up on Geoengineering Watch as a possible explanation for the "high" levels of barium they had been finding (although they think "chemtrails" are more likely).

STADIS-450, is a “static dissipator” fuel additive that coould provide an answer. Although the ingredients are a “trade secret” study contracted by the EPA [10] and others implies these ingredients contain salts of barium and/or calcium. The EPA report also finds this barium salt is imported into the United States in high quantities of 1 million pounds or more per year.

Broad application of Stadis 450 suggests the high Barium results in lab tests could be an incidental and INVISIBLE fall-out from commerical AND miltary jets. If so, the pollution of Barium may have nothing directly to do with Startospheric Aerosol Geoengineering. However the high volume of Barium reported in lab tests is more likely the result of an increase in overall air traffic by the addition of so many Military jets needed to spray the persistant contrails that we also refer to as “Chemtrails”.
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In 2012 Harold Saive posted a video in which he claimed the EPA study found barium in Stadis (it did not, see above). Basically this was just repeating the myth.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiMXbjKaVoY

In 2013 Jim Lee posted here on Metabunk, claiming that barium was in Stadis, unfortunately it was not sufficiently point out to him that it wasn't, so he seems to continue to think that it was, posting on his site in 2015.
DuPont created STADIS-450 in 1962 and ever since this barium salt fuel additive has been in every single jet fuel tank worldwide. The purpose of STADIS-450 is to reduce static discharge from refueling to keep fuel from exploding. Nonetheless, barium is a serious health concern for everyone on the planet.
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The link he gives (barium salt fuel additive) goes to a Wikipedia page that notes it is the acid, not the barium salt, that is used in Stadis. So again, no barium.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinonylnaphthylsulfonic_acid

Dinonylnaphthylsulfonic acid is a component of Stadis 450 which is an antistatic agent added to distillate fuels, solvents, commercial jet fuels, and to the military JP-8 fuel to increase the electrical conductivity of the fluid. Fluids with increased conductivity more readily dissipate static charges to mitigate the risk of explosions or fires due to Static Discharge Ignitions

Dinonylnaphthylsulfonic acid by itself does not function as an anti-static additive.
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What seems to be the source of the error is that the writer on chemtrails.cc confused dinonylnaphthalene sulfonic acid (which is a listed ingredient in Stadis) with dinonylnaphthalene sulfonic acid, barium salt (which is not), because they were both listed in the EPA document. But they are very different chemicals. One contains barium, and the other (the one in Stadis) does not.

Bolded the two names. You cut off the end of the second one. It is also known as Barium dinonylnaphthalenesulfonate.
 
Are they spelled identically but different?

I was confused by this too, until I looked a bit deeper. Please someone correct this if wrong!

First, notice you failed to copy the full quote, which was "dinonylnaphthalene sulfonic acid, barium salt" with the comma, and the words barium salt. this is a separate chemical compound, but both have similar or identical 'chemical names' according to different companies. These are those two:

Calcium Bis(Dinonylnaphthalenesulphonate)
https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/93828#section=Top
which contains no barium, is included in Stadis 450 and goes by the following names:
  1. Calcium bis(dinonylnaphthalenesulphonate)
  2. Dinonylnaphthalenesulfonic acid, calcium salt
  3. EINECS 260-991-2
  4. calcium 2,3-di(nonyl)naphthalene-1-sulfonate
  5. calcium 2,3-dinonylnaphthalene-1-sulfonate
  6. AC1L3QZE
  7. 86329-66-0
  8. AN-39871
  9. LP114256
  10. LS-195532
Then we have

Naphthalenesulfonic acid, dinonyl-, barium salt
https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/160104#section=Top

Which contains barium, is NOT included in the fuel additive we're discussing, yet goes by the following names

  1. Naphthalenesulfonic acid, dinonyl-, barium salt
  2. 25619-56-1
  3. Barium dinonylnaphthalenesulfonate
  4. EINECS 247-132-7
  5. NSC 49580
  6. Barium bis(dinonylnaphthalenesulphonate)
  7. Dinonylnaphthalene sulfonic acid barium salt
  8. barium(2+); 2,3-di(nonyl)naphthalene-1-sulfonate
  9. Naphthalenesulfonic acid, dinonyl-, barium salt (2:1)
  10. AC1L4N1T
  11. SCHEMBL163347
  12. C28H44O3S.1/2Ba
  13. CTK4F6119
  14. AR-1H7710
  15. AR-1H7711
  16. C28-H44-O3-S.1/2Ba
  17. AN-17800
  18. LP000555
  19. Bis(2,3-dinonyl-1-naphthalenesulfonic acid)barium salt
  20. BARIUM(2+) ION BIS(2,3-DINONYLNAPHTHALENE-1-SULFONATE)


So if I'm not mistaken, this is two completely different chemical compounds that serve very similar functions in their industrial use and have very similar and confusing "Brand" names. Do I have this right @Mick West ?
 
So if I'm not mistaken, this is two completely different chemical compounds that serve very similar functions in their industrial use and have very similar and confusing "Brand" names. Do I have this right @Mick West ?

Not exactly, there are four chemicals mentioned.

63512-64-1 Diisononylnaphthalene (a.k.a. dinonylnaphthalene)
25322-17-2 Dinonylnaphthalene sulfonic acid
25619-56-1 Dinonylnaphthalene sulfonic acid, barium salt
57855-77-3 Dinonylnaphthalene sulfonic acid, calcium salt

Dinonylnaphthalene sulfonic acid is what is in Stadis 450


"dinonylnaphthalene sulfonic acid, barium salt" is the salt formed by adding barium to dinonylnaphthalene sulfonic acid. I should bold them in the OP.
 
Just to try and clear up any confusion on the naming. A salt is the compound you get when you react an acid with a base (bases are alkaline compounds).

To take a common example, if you react hydrochloric acid with sodium hydroxide (aka caustic soda, or lye), you get a salt, sodium chloride. That's common table salt. If you used the same naming convention used in that fact sheet, you would call it "hydrochloric acid, sodium salt".

In a salt, a hydrogen atom is knocked off the acid molecule and replaced by a metal atom, so hydrochloric acid, HCl, becomes sodium chloride, NaCl. Organic acids work the same way, e.g. acetic acid, CH3​COOH can become sodium acetate, CH3​COONa. Again, you could call it "acetic acid, sodium salt", but it is a totally different compound with totally different properties.

From the description of Stadis 450, it is clear that dinonylnaphthalene sulfonic acid is the "aromatic solvent" in which the active ingredients are dissolved.

(In chemical terminology, "aromatic" has a specific meaning: it doesn't mean it smells, it means it has a specific type of structure with a ring or rings of carbon atoms. The naphthalene part of the molecule, that is the double ring of carbon atoms, is aromatic.)
IMG_8696.PNG

This is a "sulfonic acid". The SO3​H part is what makes it an acid, and that H is the hydrogen atom that would be replaced by barium in the salt.
 
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A likely source of confusion is the 'comma form' in CAS descriptions.

From the "Naming and Indexing" abstract:
The “comma of inversion” has been mentioned above (¶ 104). Other commas are used between individual locants in index heading parents, substituents, and modifications. Different types of functional derivatives are separated by commas in the text of the modification.

Examples:
(a) hydrazone phenylhydrazone
(b) diethyl ester, sodium salt
(c) ethyl methyl ester, hydrochloride
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Pages 2/3, my emphasis.

https://www.cas.org/File Library/Training/STN/User Docs/indexguideapp.pdf
 
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So the comma did trip me up. I can admit that... however. Don't think we are done here:

Barium compounds serve as corrosion and rust inhibitors; detergent; anti-smoke additive in fuels. Zinc dithiophosphate (ZDP) or dialky-dithiophosphate (ZDDP) are anti-wear, anti-oxidant, and corrosion inhibitors. Sodium (Na) and barium (Ba) are associated with detergents that neutralize strong acids, produced during the combustion process. Phenolates, sulphonates and phosphonates of alkaline and alkaline-earth elements, such as calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sodium (Na) or barium (Ba) are used as detergents in lubricants.
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Chemistry Characterization of Jet Aircraft Engine Particulate by XPS: Results From APEX III
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20140012043.pdf

Maybe that's why the CDC mentioned barium in jet fuel.... boom.
 
So the comma did trip me up. I can admit that... however. Don't think we are done here:

Barium compounds serve as corrosion and rust inhibitors; detergent; anti-smoke additive in fuels. Zinc dithiophosphate (ZDP) or dialky-dithiophosphate (ZDDP) are anti-wear, anti-oxidant, and corrosion inhibitors. Sodium (Na) and barium (Ba) are associated with detergents that neutralize strong acids, produced during the combustion process. Phenolates, sulphonates and phosphonates of alkaline and alkaline-earth elements, such as calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sodium (Na) or barium (Ba) are used as detergents in lubricants.
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Chemistry Characterization of Jet Aircraft Engine Particulate by XPS: Results From APEX III
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20140012043.pdf

Maybe that's why the CDC mentioned barium in jet fuel.... boom.

Put some numbers on that. How much is mentioned. How much is in the detergent? Which detergent, and what lubricant? And how often is it used?

And why is any of this significant?
 
It shouldn't be hard to get hold of a sample of jet fuel and send it off for a full elemental analysis.
Why not rely on Dr. Lohmann et al.?
While their particle test was not quantitative, they had some Jet A1 analyzed, quite obviously to have some relative numbers to compare with the determined particle fractions. See slide 12.

JetA1_Elements.png

Barium might be included with "others" (seems to cover elements under 1 ppmm). So not a significant amount in any case. Much less than trace elements in mineral water ...
 

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Why not rely on Dr. Lohmann et al.?
While their particle test was not quantitative, they had some Jet A1 analyzed, quite obviously to have some relative numbers to compare with the determined particle fractions. See slide 12.

JetA1_Elements.png

Barium might be included with "others" (seems to cover elements under 1 ppmm). So not a significant amount in any case. Much less than trace elements in mineral water ...

20170123-113342-0d1ns.jpg

Seems like barium is pretty insignificant compared to other metals.
 
@rezn8d does put some numbers to Barium in jet fuel on his site. He quotes an analysis from 2000:
cv_q2.png
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Original source: Shumway 2000

However, this does obviously not in the least support his claim that "chemtrails are full of Barium". Note that the unit here is ppb (parts per billion).
Even Aluminum in military jet fuel (JP8) is just 9 ppm - compared to 3 ppm(m) in the ETH Jet A1 analysis.
cv_q1.png
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(Source: Chemtrails: The Shady Truth About Contrails)

Once again: it's much more justified to claim that mineral water is "full of metals".
 
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@rezn8d does put some numbers to Barium in jet fuel on his site. He quotes an analysis from 2000:
cv_q2.png
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Original source: Shumway 2000

However, this does obviously not in the least support his claim that "chemtrails are full of Barium". Note that the unit here is ppb.
Even Aluminum in military jet fuel is just 9 ppm - compared to 3 ppm(m) in the ETH analysis.
cv_q1.png
Content from External Source
(Source: Chemtrails: The Shady Truth About Contrails)

Once again: it's much more justified to claim that mineral water is "full of metals".
It should be noted that jet-a is what commercial aircraft use. JP-5 and JP-8 are used by the Navy and the Air Force respectively.
 
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