Justjohnny86 Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 Hey all. I haven't posted in some time but I have a question regarding Dimethyl Sulfoxide and it's potential interaction with my reef system. I am looking for a storage drum for mixing batches of salt water and I found a guy on CL with a couple for sale. Upon inquiry about what was stored in the drums, he informed me that the plastic is food-grade and that they were used to store DMSO, which I googled and determined to be the aforementioned dimethyl sulfoxide. I looked into it's potential interactions but only found an article regarding toxicity in a certain solution on males of a certain freshwater species. If DMSO remnants ARE harmful, I'm curious whether I can adequately clean the drums to dilute any existing chemical in them to within a safe range because, frankly, the price is right. If anyone has any insight into this matter, I would greatly appreciate it! -Johnny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alterego Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 ePersonally, I would look for barrels that have had food in them, like vinegar or soy sauce. Too much risk in the unkown Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoobtoSalt Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 Is this guy in Vancouver? If so i bought three barrels from him last year and they are fine. Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefnjunkie Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 Agree with Alterego, you can find those drums that have been used for storing syrups etc for 20.00 or less. They could be fine but........... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MVPaquatics Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 +1 on just finding some with soy or syrups. DMSO can be nasty. I wonder what hes doing wih barrels of it. Probably not the safest stuff to be playing with or washing down the drain. I personally would look elsewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totoro Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 As it was explained to me, the plastic barrel color coding works thusly: BLACK = contents are hazardous or toxic BLUE = contents are on the GRAS ("Generally Recognized As Safe") list and not considered hazardous or toxic -- note that some food-grade flavorings and ingredients, such as citric acid, are shipped in blue barrels, but on the other hand, so are all manner of industrial chemcials like DMSO... WHITE = contents are actual food or the basic ingredients of food (like vinegar, soy sauce, etc.) So look for white barrels, and you won't have to stress over stuff like this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnkrcklives Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 As it was explained to me, the plastic barrel color coding works thusly: BLACK = contents are hazardous or toxic BLUE = contents are on the GRAS ("Generally Recognized As Safe") list and not considered hazardous or toxic -- note that some food-grade flavorings and ingredients, such as citric acid, are shipped in blue barrels, but on the other hand, so are all manner of industrial chemcials like DMSO... WHITE = contents are actual food or the basic ingredients of food (like vinegar, soy sauce, etc.) So look for white barrels, and you won't have to stress over stuff like this. Good easy way to tell. There is a guy in Hillsboro that gets them from reesers food they mostly have beans or pumpkin puree in them he sells them with lids for $15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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