‘’It Worked Fine Last Time’’ Here’s Why Filling Petrol In Plastic Containers Isn’t Safe & Why You Don’t Always Feel It
Filling up petrol in plastic containers seem harmless, but you could just be really lucky for now.
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With the price of petrol rising, some have started to panic pump. Just recently, two individuals were blocked from accessing the subsidised fuel programme after they were caught filling RON95 petrol into a large container in the car boot.
READ MORE: [Watch] Caught On Camera: Couple Loses Petrol Subsidy After Filling Drum With RON95 In Johor
READ MORE: Petrol Pain Ahead? RON95 Subsidy Might Be Reduced As Prices Soar
However, there’s another issue that holds a huge risk in that particular incident. Not many people realise that filling petrol in plastic containers in their car boot is actually dangerous.
Managing director of Shell Malaysia Trading, Shairan Huzani Husain, aka Pakcik Shell, made a video explaining the risks of filling petrol this way.
Shairan said people risk causing an explosion when filling petrol into a container due to static charge. In the video, Shairan demonstrated a safer way to fill petrol by pumping it into a metal container that was placed on the ground with a bonding wire and clip attached to the metal container.
Generally, it’s not recommended to transport petrol in plastic containers because petrol can dissolve and degrade plastic, leading to leakage. Non-approved plastic containers are also poor at sealing in volatile fumes, which can create a significant fire hazard in enclosed places like the car boot.
His advice didn’t convince many people who claimed they had seen others filling petrol in a plastic container several times without causing a fire or an explosion.
There are several factors why some might have gotten away with it. It’s possible that they were really lucky that there wasn’t enough static charge building up.
The other reason is that they might be using a High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) container, designed to hold fuel safely. The thick HDPE container doesn’t degrade immediately upon contact with petrol.
They could have also gotten away with it because they only transported small amounts of petrol in a plastic container for a short time. The short duration doesn’t give enough time for the fuel to degrade the plastic.
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