LAST Record Preservative. Do you believe?

LAST definitely works. It does what they advertise by (to make a long story short) transforming the surface molecules of the lp from vinyl into Teflon. And it DOES NOT leave ANY residue on the LP. It becomes a gas almost instantly at room temp and pressure.

But as I posted in a recent thread, there are other issues which remain unresoved. Here's a copy of that post:

I still use it on lp's that I expect to play a lot, say 8 or 10 times a year. But I'm very careful with it, and only apply it while outside the house - for reasons stated below. As far as a sonic signature - I don't hear any difference that could not be attributed to an overactive imagination.

However, the effect I would worry about is your health. I don't know the EXACT formulation - but I know that LAST is basically a "Flourinated Hydrocarbon" such as PFOS or PFOA which the LAST guys originally sourced from 3M. 3M shut down production in 2002 over health liability concerns, but some other chemical manufacturers have taken over. It's contact basically turns the top few molecules of the LP surface into Teflon, which to oversimplify - is created by exposing Nylon (which includes viNYL) to a Fluorinated Hydrocarbon gas. Your new Teflon record is much slipperier and heat resistant then before, so it doesn't wear out. However:

Here's a quote from this website: www.ewg.org/reports/pfcworld/e...

"The U.S. EPA peremptorily forced one member of this family off the market in 2000: PFOS, the active ingredient used for decades in the original formulation of 3M’s popular Scotchgard stain and water repellent. Shortly thereafter, 3M also stopped manufacture of a related perfluorochemical, called PFOA, that is now under intense regulatory pressure at EPA. 3M formerly sold PFOA to DuPont, which has used PFOA for half a century in the manufacture of Teflon. (DuPont now makes the chemical itself at a new facility in North Carolina.)"

Here's a quote from the EPA:

"PFOS accumulates to a high degree in humans and animals. It has an estimated half-life of 4 years in humans. It thus appears to combine persistence, bioaccumulation, and toxicity properties to an extraordinary degree."
- May 16, 2000. Phaseout of PFOS. Charles Auer, USEPA, Director, Chemical Control Division Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT)

Hope I'm not depressing anyone - my knowledge of this is incomplete, so it might be nice if someone from the Last Factory would clarify the risks. But I'm worried that a full disclosure may not quite be in their interests.

Hey - you guys gotta learn how to check out the U.S. Patent Office - it can provide hours of aimless enjoyment and piles of useless information. For example here's a link to Last's Record Cleaner, Stylus cleaner, and Record Preservative patents:

http://patft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.htm&r=1&p=1&f=G&l=50&d=PALL&S1=%22record+preservative%22&OS=%22record+preservative%22&RS=%22record+preservative%22

The Preservative stuff is down toward the bottom of the page. In case you can't get the link to work, here's a reprint of that area:

"Compositions for preserving records comprise about 0.05% to about 0.2% by volume perfluoropolyether having an average molecular weight of about 2,000 to about 6,000, such as Fomblin.RTM. Y25, and a perfluoroalkane carrier."

"record preservative compositions comprise a perfluoropolyether in a perfluoroalkane carrier. The perfluoropolyether is preferably a perfluoro(polyoxyethylene-polyoxymethylene) block polymer or a perfluoro(polyoxypropylene-polyoxymethylene) block polymer, having an average molecular weight of about 3,000 g/mol. Presently preferred perfluoropolyethers include Fomblin.RTM. Y25, Fomblin.RTM. Z03, and the like, preferably Fomblin.RTM. Y25/6. The carrier is generally a perfluoroalkane or mixture of perfluoroalkanes. Suitable carriers include perfluoropentane, perfluorohexane, perfluoroheptane, perfluorooctane, and the like. Presently preferred compositions contain from about 0.05% to about 0.2% Fomblin.RTM. Y25/6, about 0.25% to about 1.0% Fluorinert.RTM. FC40 (a perfluoroalkane), and the remainder perfluorohexane (PF5060, 3M Co.). The composition is prepared by dissolving the perfluoropolyether into Fluorinert.RTM. FC40, and then dissolving the mixture into the perfluorohexane. The composition is filtered through a 0.2 .mu.m filter, and is bottled in glass."

Whew - I wouldn't try mixing this stuff up at home! Looking at this, though, it is not exactly as I had been told - but this patent was from 14 years ago and my info was from about 6 years ago - and it's probably been changed again since. The ORIGINAL version appears to be more of a Teflon surface lubricant than a Vinyl Teflon-izer.

Perhaps we have a real chemist on Audiogon who could expand our understanding.