# My Kid's Toy Produced Carbon Monoxide! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 3, 2007, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-kids-toy-produced-carbon-monoxide/428668 "2007-12-03T16:27:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2007, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-kids-toy-produced-carbon-monoxide/428668/1 "2007-12-03T16:27:49Z")
Oh Joy! Not only does my 5 year old’s shiney, new choo-choo train makes enough noise that rivals a real steam engine. This thing spews smoke from burning… _motor oil!_ It looks cool, but smells like a dying combustion engine, and I’m sure it’s filling the house with CO as we speak. Is this a good idea? :::slightly disconcerted::: ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Il_Palazzo)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2007, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-kids-toy-produced-carbon-monoxide/428668/2 "2007-12-03T16:36:09Z")
Burning motor oil!? In a children’s toy!? “Slightly disconcerted”!? ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2007, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-kids-toy-produced-carbon-monoxide/428668/3 "2007-12-03T16:43:44Z")
Okay, that’s just _weird_. When I was a kid back in the 70s I got a toy train engine and it blew smoke, too – but I’m pretty sure that stuff was generated piezoelectrically. (I seem recall the smell of ozone. It was a long time ago though.) I don’t know if water was involved (like foggers) and I don’t recall having to put any water in it, but I do remember wondering how it produced smoke like that. Definitely wasn’t from burning oil, though! ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2007, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-kids-toy-produced-carbon-monoxide/428668/4 "2007-12-03T16:47:15Z")
The amount of CO released is negligible. Much less than what you get from burning a single candle. I wouldn’t worry about it. However - I don’t think you’re supposed to use motor oil. I remember that the model trains I had when I was a kid used a special “Smoke Oil” to generate the smoke effects. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2007, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-kids-toy-produced-carbon-monoxide/428668/5 "2007-12-03T18:08:49Z")
Find a well-stocked hobby shop, and get some smoking oil made by Seuthe. It’s light oil, a little heavier than (barber’s) clipper oil, and made expressly for producing smoke in this manner. The CO produced is negligible. Contact me off-line if you need help finding a hobby shop. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2007, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-kids-toy-produced-carbon-monoxide/428668/6 "2007-12-03T18:13:13Z")
Yeh, okay, it’s probably the light oil as stated above. But still… the smell! If it’s less CO than a candle, then I’ll be damned. I wasn’t really all that concerned (but it still makes you wonder). I’ve never seen a toy that did that before. My wife got it from CVS. KHACK! KHACK!! If you don’t hear from me in a few days, call 911! ---
**Author:** ![brownie55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f14d63/32.png) [@brownie55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brownie55)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2007, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-kids-toy-produced-carbon-monoxide/428668/7 "2007-12-03T18:17:05Z")
[QUOTE=cmyk] Yeh, okay, it’s probably the light oil as stated above. But still… the smell! If it’s less CO than a candle, then I’ll be damned. I wasn’t really all that concerned (but it still makes you wonder). I’ve never seen a toy that did that before. My wife got it from CVS. KHACK! KHACK!! If you don’t hear from me in a few days, call 911! [/QUOTE] As an aside, CO is odorless and colorless. It’s the other combustion byproducts you smell.