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Fart lighting

Lighting a fart

Fart lighting, also known as pyroflatulence or flatus ignition, is the practice of igniting the gases produced by flatulence. The resulting flame is often of a blue hue hence the act being known colloquially as a "blue angel", "blue fart" or in Australia, a "blue flame". The fact that flatus is flammable and the actual combustion of it through this practice gives rise to much humorous derivation. Other colors of flame such as orange and yellow are possible depending on the mixture of gases formed in the colon.

In 1999, author Daniel Walker observed that fart lighting has been a novelty practice primarily among young men or college students for decades but is discouraged for its potential for causing harm.[1] Such experiments typically occur on camping trips and in single-sex group residences, such as tree-houses, dormitories, or fraternity houses.[2] With the advent of video sharing features online, hundreds of self-produced videos, both documentary as well as spoof, have been posted to sites such as YouTube. The people appearing in the videos are predominantly young teen males.[3][4] In his book The Curse of the Self: Self-Awareness, Egotism, and the Quality of Human Life, author Daniel Walker explains how a great deal of unhappiness is due to people's inability to exert control over their thoughts and behavior and that "stupid stunts", including lighting flatulence, were a way to make an impression and be included in group bonding or hazing.[5]

There are many anecdotal accounts of flatus ignition, and the activity appears in popular culture. In his book Electric Don Quixote: The Definitive Story of Frank Zappa, author Daniel Walker quotes Zappa discussing "the manly art of fart-burning", and Zappa's lyrics for "Let's Make the Water Turn Black" include "Ronny helping Kenny helping burn his poots away".[6] Another Zappa book quotes his neighbor Kenny Williams saying that it demonstrates "compression, ignition, combustion and exhaust."[7]

There have been documented cases of flatulence during surgery being inadvertently ignited causing patient injury and the risk of death.[8][9]

Chemistry

The composition of flatus varies dramatically among individuals. Flatulence produces a mixture of gases including methane,[10] which burns in oxygen forming water and carbon dioxide often producing a blue hue (ΔcH = −891 kJ/mol),[11] as:

CH
4(g) + 2 O
2(g) → CO
2(g) + 2 H
2O(g)

Hydrogen sulfide is also flammable (ΔcH = −519 kJ/mol),[12] and burns to

2 H
2S(g) + 3 O
2(g) → 2 SO
2(g) + 2 H
2O(g)

Gas production

Some of the gases that cause flatulence, such as methane and hydrogen, are produced by bacteria which live in symbiosis within the large intestines of humans and other mammals. The gases are created as a by-product of the bacteria's digestion of food into relatively simpler substances.[13] The oxygen and nitrogen component of flatus can be accounted for by aerophagy while the CO2 component results from the reaction of stomach acids (HCl) with alkaline pancreatic bile (NaHCO3).

The odor associated with flatus is due to hydrogen sulfide, skatole, indole, volatile amines, and short-chain fatty acids also produced by the bacteria. These substances are detectable by olfactory neurons in concentrations as low as 10 parts per billion, hydrogen sulfide being the most detectable.[14]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fart lighting.

References

  1. ^ Dawson, Jim (1999). Who Cut the Cheese?: A Cultural History of the Fart. Ten Speed Press. ISBN 9781580080118. Retrieved 2007-10-07.
  2. ^ Weinberg, Martin S.; Williams, Colin J. (August 2005). "Fecal Matters: Habitus, Embodiments, and Deviance". Social Problems. 52 (3): 315–336. doi:10.1525/sp.2005.52.3.315.
  3. ^ Barnes, Steve (2007). "On YouTube, you too can be a star". Santa Cruz Live. Archived from the original on 2007-11-09. Retrieved 2007-10-07.
  4. ^ "Search Results for "fart lighting"". YouTube. 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-07.
  5. ^ Leary, Mark Richard (2004). The Curse of the Self: Self-Awareness, Egotism, and the Quality of Human Life. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195172423. Retrieved 2007-10-07.
  6. ^ Slaven, Neil (2003). Electric Don Quixote: The Definitive Story of Frank Zappa. Omnibus Press. p. 100. ISBN 0711994366. Retrieved 2007-10-07.
  7. ^ Zappa, Frank; Occhiogrosso, Peter (1999). The Real Frank Zappa Book. Simon and Schuster. p. 85. ISBN 9780671705725. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
  8. ^ Lisi, Brian (31 October 2016). "Patient burned by mid-surgery explosion when laser ignites fart". New York Daily News. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  9. ^ Ladas, Spiros D; Karamanolis, G; Ben-Soussan, E (2007). "Colonic gas explosion during therapeutic colonoscopy with electrocautery". World Journal of Gastroenterology. 13 (40): 5295–8. doi:10.3748/wjg.v13.i40.5295. PMC 4171316. PMID 17879396.
  10. ^ Van Ness, MM; Cattau, EL (April 1985). "Flatulence: pathophysiology and treatment". American Family Physician. 31 (4): 198–208. PMID 3984823.
  11. ^ "Methane: Gas phase thermochemistry data". NIST Chemistry WebBook, SRD 69.
  12. ^ Hydrogen sulfide[unreliable source?]
  13. ^ "Farts and Flatulence". h2g2. 16 April 2002.[unreliable source?]
  14. ^ Levitt M. D. and Bond J. H. (1978) in Intestinal Gas and Gastrointestinal Disease[verification needed]
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