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{{Short description|Practice of igniting flatus upon expulsion for humorous purposes}}
]
]
'''Fart lighting''' or '''fart-burning''' is the practice of setting fire to the gases produced by ] often producing a blue ]. Although earlier records do not document the activity, probably because of its vulgar and juvenile nature, the unique activity has increasingly found its way into popular culture with references in comic routines, books, videos and movies.
'''Fart lighting''', also known as '''pyroflatulence''' or '''flatus ignition''', is the practice of igniting the gases produced by ]. The resulting flame is often of a blue hue hence the act being known colloquially as a "'''blue angel'''", "'''blue dart'''" or in ], 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 ].


In 1999, author Jim Dawson 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.<ref name="Who Cut the Cheese?: A Cultural History of the Fart ">{{cite book | last =Dawson | first =Jim | title=Who Cut the Cheese?: A Cultural History of the Fart | publisher=Ten Speed Press | year=1999 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=G8t8doQHi-MC&q=%22fart+lighting%22&pg=PA140 | access-date=2007-10-07 | isbn =9781580080118}}</ref> Such experiments typically occur on camping trips and in single-sex group residences, such as tree-houses, dormitories, or ].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Weinberg |first1=Martin S. |last2=Williams |first2=Colin J. |title=Fecal Matters: Habitus, Embodiments, and Deviance |journal=Social Problems |date=August 2005 |volume=52 |issue=3 |pages=315–336 |doi=10.1525/sp.2005.52.3.315 }}</ref> 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 ]. The people appearing in the videos are predominantly young teen males.<ref name="On YouTube, you too can be a star">{{cite web |last=Barnes |first=Steve |title=On YouTube, you too can be a star |publisher=Santa Cruz Live |year=2007 |url=http://www.santacruzlive.com/ex/content/view/5637/126/ |access-date=2007-10-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071109225545/http://www.santacruzlive.com/ex/content/view/5637/126/ |archive-date=2007-11-09 }}</ref><ref name="Search Results for 'fart lighting'">{{cite web | title=Search Results for "fart lighting" | publisher=]
==Background==
⚫ | year=2007 | url =https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=fart+lighting&search=Search | access-date=2007-10-07}}</ref> In his book ''The Curse of the Self: Self-Awareness, Egotism, and the Quality of Human Life'', author Jim Dawson 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.<ref name="The Curse of the Self: Self-Awareness">{{cite book | last =Leary | first =Mark Richard | title=The Curse of the Self: Self-Awareness, Egotism, and the Quality of Human Life | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=2004 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QrCENRx6klUC&q=lighting+flatulence&pg=PA127 | access-date=2007-10-07 | isbn =9780195172423}}</ref>
Flatulence is a mixture of gases such as ], ], ], ], ], and ] with hydrogen sulfide being the most odorous.<ref>http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A673508</ref> The gases are produced by ] which live in ] within the ] of humans and other ] . The gases are created as a by-product of the bacteria's ] work to break down food into elementary substances.<ref>http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A673508</ref>
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 Neil Slaven quotes ] discussing "the manly art of fart-burning", and Zappa's lyrics for "]" include "Ronny helping Kenny helping burn his poots away".<ref name="Electric Don Quixote: The Definitive">{{cite book | last =Slaven | first =Neil | title=Electric Don Quixote: The Definitive Story of Frank Zappa | publisher=Omnibus Press | isbn = 0711994366 | page = 100 | year=2003 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=ZaGs3UTVm1sC | access-date=2007-10-07}}</ref> Another Zappa book quotes his neighbor Kenny Williams saying that it demonstrates "], ], ] and ]."<ref name="The Real Frank Zappa Book">{{cite book | last1 = Zappa | first1 =Frank | first2= Peter |last2=Occhiogrosso | title=The Real Frank Zappa Book | publisher=Simon and Schuster | isbn = 9780671705725 | page = 85 | year= 1999 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=FB0O_HCpBy0C | access-date=2008-08-17}}</ref>


There have been documented cases of ] causing patient injury and the risk of death.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Lisi|first1=Brian|title=Patient burned by mid-surgery explosion when laser ignites fart|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/patient-burned-mid-surgery-explosion-laser-ignites-fart-article-1.2852543|access-date=1 November 2016|work=]|date=31 October 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ladas |first1=Spiros D |last2=Karamanolis |first2=G |last3=Ben-Soussan |first3=E |title=Colonic gas explosion during therapeutic colonoscopy with electrocautery |journal=World Journal of Gastroenterology |date=2007 |volume=13 |issue=40 |pages=5295–8 |doi=10.3748/wjg.v13.i40.5295 |pmid=17879396 |pmc=4171316 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
==Flammability==
Because the ] and ] present are flammable, lighting the resulting gas can result in burns or explosions as well as the desired flame. Clothing or hair may catch fire and sensitive tissues can be damaged. The flame is not always blue, but may be orange or yellow as well, depending on the ] and the microorganisms living in the colon.


==Motivations== ==Chemistry==
The composition of flatus varies dramatically among individuals. Flatulence produces a mixture of gases including ],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Van Ness |first1=MM |last2=Cattau |first2=EL |title=Flatulence: pathophysiology and treatment. |journal=] |date=April 1985 |volume=31 |issue=4 |pages=198–208 |pmid=3984823 }}</ref> which burns in oxygen forming water and carbon dioxide often producing a blue ] (] = −891 kJ/mol),<ref>{{cite web |title=Methane: Gas phase thermochemistry data |url=https://webbook.nist.gov/cgi/cbook.cgi?ID=C74828&Mask=1#Thermo-Gas |website=NIST Chemistry WebBook, SRD 69 }}</ref> as:
{{quote|The Manly Art Of Fart-Burning. Compression, ignition, combustion and exhaust."<ref name="Electric Don Quixote: The Definitive">{{cite web
| last =Slaven
| first =Neil
| title=Electric Don Quixote: The Definitive Story of Frank Zappa
| publisher=Omnibus Press
| date=2003, ]
| url
=http://books.google.com/books?id=ZaGs3UTVm1sC&pg=PA100&lpg=PA100&dq=%22frank+zappa%22+%22fart+burning%22&source=web&ots=IbUfje1UYF&sig=OwUyPiyW8HruOgYl6PV7JyQ0MNc
| accessdate=2007-10-07}}</ref>|Frank Zappa}}
Fart lighting has become a novelty practice primarily among young men or college students for decades,<ref name="Who Cut the Cheese?: A Cultural History of the Fart ">{{cite web
| last =Dawson
| first =Jim
| title=Who Cut the Cheese?: A Cultural History of the Fart
| publisher=Ten Speed Press, ]
| date=1999
| url
=http://books.google.com/books?id=G8t8doQHi-MC&pg=PA140&dq=%22fart+lighting%22&sig=CNex0O4B3IRqIGraBGM51P250_k
| accessdate=2007-10-07}}</ref> but is discouraged for its potential for causing injury. Such experiments typically occur on camping trips and single-sex group residences, such as tree-houses, dormitories, or ].<ref> Retrieved October 6, 2007</ref> 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 ] and predominantly are from young males.<ref name="On YouTube, you too can be a star">{{cite web
| last =Barnes
| first =Steve
| title=On YouTube, you too can be a star
| publisher=Santa Cruz Live
| date=2007
| url
=http://www.santacruzlive.com/ex/content/view/5637/126/
| accessdate=2007-10-07}}</ref><ref name="Search Results for 'fart lighting'">{{cite web
| title=Search Results for “fart lighting”
| publisher=]
| date=2007
| url
=http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=fart+lighting&search=Search
⚫ | accessdate=2007-10-07}}</ref> In his book ''The Curse of the Self: Self-Awareness, Egotism, and the Quality of Human Life'' author Mark Richard Leary 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 was a way to make an impression and be included in group bonding or hazing.<ref name="The Curse of the Self: Self-Awareness">{{cite web
| last =Leary
| first =Mark Richard
| title=The Curse of the Self: Self-Awareness, Egotism, and the Quality of Human Life
| publisher=Oxford University Press
| date=2004
| url
=http://books.google.com/books?id=QrCENRx6klUC&pg=PA127&lpg=PA127&dq=lighting+flatulence&source=web&ots=htnLSme1rk&sig=Aw1ngh8Yw84L-u3HCe-RT1N629U#PPA128,M1
| accessdate=2007-10-07}}</ref>


:{{chem|CH|4}}(g) + 2 {{chem|O|2}}(g) → {{chem|CO|2}}(g) + 2 {{chem|H|2|O}}(g)
Radio personality Howard Stern, who is known for outlandish and often vulgar on-air stunts cites a fart-lighting scene for losing his popular radio show's first NBC affiliate when WGIT in Hartford canceled the show.<ref name="Private Parts">{{cite web
| last =Stern
| first =Howard
| title=Private Parts
| publisher=Simon & Schuster ]
| date=1993
| url
=http://books.google.com/books?id=h0QltZRg6FUC&q=%22fart+lighting%22&dq=%22fart+lighting%22&pgis=1
| accessdate=2007-10-07}}</ref>


] is also flammable (] = −519 kJ/mol),<ref>{{rs|date=February 2021}}</ref> and burns to
On ] 2000, a U.S. ] was issued for a "Toy gas fired ] and launcher assembly", a product that would allow one's "colonic gases" to be stored for later ignition to "fire the missile into space."<ref name="Toy Gas Fired">{{cite web
| last =Zanakis
| first =Michael F.
| coauthor = Philip A. Femano
| title=Toy Gas Fired Missile and Launcher Assembly
| publisher=U.S. Patent Office, Patent number: 6055910; Filing date: Jun 1, 1998; International Classification - F42B 406
| date: ], 2000
| url
=http://www.google.com/patents?id=HxwDAAAAEBAJ
| accessdate=2008-01-10}}</ref>


:2 {{chem|H|2|S}}(g) + 3 {{chem|O|2}}(g) → 2 {{chem|SO|2}}(g) + 2 {{chem|H|2|O}}(g)
==Serious injuries==
The flammability of bodily gases has caused serious problems in the medical operating room and also in animal ]s. At least one patient is known to have suffered from the effects of an explosion while undergoing ] of a ]. An electric spark ignited the patient's gases, resulting in a six-] (15-]) hole in the patient's ]. However, this was sewn up, and the patient recovered.<ref></ref>


==Comedy use== ===Gas production===
Some of the gases that cause flatulence, such as methane and hydrogen, are produced by ] which live in ] within the ]s of humans and other ]s. The gases are created as a by-product of the bacteria's ] of food into relatively simpler substances.<ref>{{cite web |title=Farts and Flatulence |url=https://h2g2.com/edited_entry/A673508 |website=h2g2 |date=16 April 2002 }}{{rs|date=February 2021}}</ref> The oxygen and nitrogen component of flatus can be accounted for by ] while the CO<sub>2</sub> component results from the reaction of stomach acids (]) with alkaline pancreatic bile (]).
Many find a comedic value to the lighting of farts. The activity is often represented in ] and "for adults, the allure of the vulgar is regressionary and often secretly pleasurable."<ref name="Carnival Culture – The Trashing of Taste in America">{{cite book

| last =Twitchell.
The odor associated with flatus is due to hydrogen sulfide, ], ], volatile amines, and ]s 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.<ref>Levitt M. D. and Bond J. H. (1978) in Intestinal Gas and Gastrointestinal Disease{{vs|date=February 2021}}</ref>
| first =J.
| title=Carnival Culture – The Trashing of Taste in America
| publisher=Columbia University Press, New York
| date=1992; p.52
}}</ref>


==See also== ==See also==
{{Commons category|Fart lighting}}
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]


==References== ==References==
{{reflist|2}} {{Reflist|2}}


==External links== ==External links==
* *
*


] ]
] ]
]

Latest revision as of 22:24, 26 December 2024

Practice of igniting flatus upon expulsion for humorous purposes
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 dart" 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 Jim Dawson 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. Such experiments typically occur on camping trips and in single-sex group residences, such as tree-houses, dormitories, or fraternity houses. 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. In his book The Curse of the Self: Self-Awareness, Egotism, and the Quality of Human Life, author Jim Dawson 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.

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 Neil Slaven 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". Another Zappa book quotes his neighbor Kenny Williams saying that it demonstrates "compression, ignition, combustion and exhaust."

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

Chemistry

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

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

Hydrogen sulfide is also flammable (ΔcH = −519 kJ/mol), 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. 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.

See also

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
  13. "Farts and Flatulence". h2g2. 16 April 2002.
  14. Levitt M. D. and Bond J. H. (1978) in Intestinal Gas and Gastrointestinal Disease

External links

Categories: