AmDi

[Dutchelm05]

I'm pretty anal about handling AmDi.
I wear the resperator, the glasses, the coat (then wash it) and multible gloves.
I have a full time hepa air filter going in my tiny lab
I keep my AmDi in a zip lock bag and clean the container after every use
I bag all paper towels and anything that was in contact with gel

Every month or two I wash down the lab with some Sodium Metabisulfite and water and just wash down floors and surfaces.

Can anyone tell me how much to use to ensure that I get the Cr VI to CR III? How much Sodium Metabisulfite and water should I use?

Is there any other good precautions I should be thinking about?

Thanks,
Tony

[dave battin]

how much Sodium Metabisulfite and water should i use ?

in the old days before i had a sink in my lab, i would put all yellow fluids leftover from cleaning etc. into the toilet bowl and then add a few tablespoons of sodium metabisulfate and allow it to sit for a few minuets, then look to see all the yellow was gone, if not put another couple of spoonfuls, until eventually all the yellow was gone and then i would give it the flush .........

[BobH]

I've never heard of anyone taking the precautions you already mentioned! Whatever makes you feel comfortable, I'd say right-on!

[Dutchelm05]

in the old days before i had a sink in my lab, i would put all yellow fluids leftover from cleaning etc. into the toilet bowl and then add a few tablespoons of sodium metabisulfate and allow it to sit for a few minuets, then look to see all the yellow was gone, if not put another couple of spoonfuls, until eventually all the yellow was gone and then i would give it the flush .........

Thanks guys,

Very interesting process Dave I will reframe from any toilet humor since this is a dignified web site

I do like the idea of adding sodium metabisulfate to my left over dicromate that ends up being washed from my equipment.

[holo_cyware]

First, we need to understand the risks involved. MSDS sheets are usually useless, made to protect the maker of a certain product "in case of" thus being vastly overrated (aka water: can cause drowning if exposed to large amounts). As someone said before, the really old chemists remember the world of '50 where you can get very interesting and dangerous chems over the counter, but at those times they knew how to handle them too. Nowadays, prety much everything is considered as being dangerous, toxic and/or carcinogenic. And this is true up to a point.

What is the main, most worrying hazard involved with Cr (VI)? It's cancer, but oficially it's just lung cancer, so should one inspire the airborne dust one may develop lung cancer. These studies are based on workers who may be in contact with the studied chems for years of tens of years, these workers being the ultimate "guinea pig" for such a study. Certainly there is an increased risk of getting lung cancer if exposed to Cr (VI) containing dust. But by how much?
If you are a smoker the risk of developing lung cancer is around 1 to 5.
If you've already got lung cancer there's a 90-95 to be a smoker, the rest of the cases being mostly azbestos related.
Well, apparently the worst report I could find suggests that working in an enviroment contaminated no more then the maximum allowed Cr (VI) levels leads to death from cancer in 23% of the cases; no relation made to smokers though. Besides this study seems to be very popular among these companies selling home water filtering devices guaranteed to turn the sewer water into spring water and such.

The other risks are dermatitis and acute toxicity.
I'd say if one developes dermatitis due to the handling of AmDi, it's the time to condider using at least latex gloves.
As for acute toxicity, 2 grams internally are needed in average to kill an adult. Better use it for holograms.

As the main risk is due to the airborne dust, I'd use only crystals to make the solutions; I'd handle only solutions; I woudn't use a ziplock baggie but a good container with a cap (plastic bags have a wide opening, they easily get electrostatic charges and make the small particles "jump" and such).

I can send to anyone interested a very nice article explaining very well the risks involved, wrote by someone who uses large amounts of finelly divided KDi on a regular bases. Sorry but I can't attach it here.

[Dutchelm05]

I woudn't use a ziplock baggie but a good container with a cap

Thanks holo-cyware.
This was a very good summary. When I mentioned a ziplock bag, I meant I use a zip lock bag to enclose my capped container. I noticed some time ago, when ever I used AmDi, I would wipe down the container and sometimes find a tinge of orange on it. So I decided to add another layer of protection.

The reason I am extremely cautous is I have small children. They are not allowed in the lab and I go over board on making sure I do not let anything in the house. I decided to treat it like nuclear waste. I only make film a couple of times a month (if I am lucky) and use just a few grams at a time.

When I attempted DCG in the 80s, the MSDS said the heath effects were unknown and I think rated it a 2 or 3 as far as health. I think I was less careful. Perhaps it explains much of my unpredictable, manic, paranoid, suicidal, bipolar behavior :wall: :shifty: :doh:

[BobH]

With little kids around, better too safe than sorry!

[JohnFP]

Yes, I am the same Dutch. It's an internal battle on trying to be as environmentally friendly as possible and using toxic chemicals for a non needed hobbie. No yellow leaves my lab.

[Colin Kaminski]

I woudn't use a ziplock baggie but a good container with a cap

Thanks holo-cyware.
This was a very good summary. When I mentioned a ziplock bag, I meant I use a zip lock bag to enclose my capped container. I noticed some time ago, when ever I used AmDi, I would wipe down the container and sometimes find a tinge of orange on it. So I decided to add another layer of protection.

The reason I am extremely cautous is I have small children. They are not allowed in the lab and I go over board on making sure I do not let anything in the house. I decided to treat it like nuclear waste. I only make film a couple of times a month (if I am lucky) and use just a few grams at a time.

When I attempted DCG in the 80s, the MSDS said the heath effects were unknown and I think rated it a 2 or 3 as far as health. I think I was less careful. Perhaps it explains much of my unpredictable, manic, paranoid, suicidal, bipolar behavior :wall: :shifty: :doh:

It has been interesting to see a bunch of brain cancers in 70's and 80's generation holographers.