IBC question

[Bobby McGovern]

I've been offered a great deal on 3 IBC totes.  All three for $100.

When asked what was shipped in them the seller told me "the soap they use to make disposable baby diapers and feminine products absorbant".  I'm thinking perhaps it's some sort of liquid polymer crystals which aren't toxic.

 

He gets a new supply periodically.  He said he's sold at least 50 of them, they rinse out easily, no odor, etc.  He uses them himself to water his cattle and chickens.  .

 

It's only about 20 minutes from my house so I'd be thrilled if I could use them.  I've been searching and searching for some but they've been hundreds of miles away.

 

Normally I wouldn't even think of taking the chance.  However, if it's something used in the making of baby diapers and such it must be fairly safe.

 

Please share your thoughts.  Take care and many thanks..

 

Bobby

 

 

[Jonathan Kadish NYC AA Chair]

If it is for your personal use you are probably ok. One risk is that soap can coat the gills of fish and kill them. You might want to see if you can get a list of the ingredients that were in the soap. Another thing you could do is put water in them and then get the water tested after several weeks to see if anything is leeching.

[Hatau Szemata]

  Personally I just found about a dozen of these at my local CO-OP all being offered for low prices, of course they had herbicide in them, so I have contacted the company about replacement bottles , I will post here any info I get on replacing your IBC internals as mine must be replaced to be usable.

[Bobby McGovern]

Thanks guys.  I really appreciate it.

Something called Lertisan HD 20/3 US was transported in them.

Ingredients are docusate sodium (a stool softener, surfactant and emollient)

Phosphoric acid partial ester

2-methoxymethylethoxy propanol

 

I'm going to give them a very good wash tomorrow, rinse extremely well and then sit in the sun for a while.

 

Where would I go to get the water tested to see if anything harmful has leeched out?

 

Thanks..

[Jonathan Kadish NYC AA Chair]

That looks to me like an oil dispersant. Phosphoric acid partial ester is worrisome. I found a MSDS on Phosphoric acid trimethyl ester that says it is a cancer causing agent. I wouldn't mess with it if it were my health or my families health.

[Vlad Jovanovic]

Now I'm not saying that phosphoric acid tri-methyl ester is something you want to be putting in your cocktails, or pouring into an AP system...so don't get me wrong...and we still all need to make our own choices and all, but (CH3O)3P(:O) gets as label of "a possible carcinogen" from force feeding rats with 16g/kg of 98% pure phosphoric acid tri-methyl ester. And mice at 154gm/kg. That's akin to you eating over 12 kilos of the stuff (and not the stuff in the IBC, but just pure phosphoric acid tri-methyl ester all by itself) and saying "ooh look, a tumor"...

Remember when they pulled red M&M's off the shelf for a bit a little while back?...............

Again, I'm not saying it's a good thing, or that I would, or would not use those IBC's, just trying to give a different perspective. Personally, my 8 IBC's had apple juice or apple juice concentrate (which if you inject enough of it into your bloodstream probably causes tumors as well I imagine) in them, while the 9th one had a syrup sugar because I didn't want to fuck around and hope for the best. Or have to lie to veggie/fish customers about what was in those IBC's (trying to explain to people that  "no really, I rinsed out the chemicals real well !" didn't seem like much of a plan)...

Again, we all need to make our own decisions, and not loose perspective on the way set, setting and circumstance affect the "safeness" or "danger" of a given substance. Remember, potassium chloride is one of the 3 ingredients in the lethal injection concoction used for the execution of prisoners. It is, in fact the one ingredient that does the killing by stopping the heart.

On the other hand potassium chloride is also used in organic gardening as a fertilizer, as well as a salt (NaCl) substitute at the dinner table with dramatically different health results than when used in the lethal injection scenario...

[Jonathan Kadish NYC AA Chair]

I was hoping you would chime in Vlad, your depth of knowledge is deeper than mine with these chemicals. My thinking is that if there is a 1 in 100,000 chance that one molecule of this stuff get in the DNA of one of my cells and then that cell goes rogue... that is too risky for me. We don't know these kind of probabilities in a situation like this. I play poker and I have had Quad Aces beat by a Royal flush. That is supposed to happen less than 1 in 800 million hands you are dealt... it does and can happen.

[Jon Parr]

Actually, unless your deck has 5 aces, somebody was cheating.

[Jonathan Kadish NYC AA Chair]

Texas Hold'em... you only get two cards ;)

Jon Parr said:

Actually, unless your deck has 5 aces, somebody was cheating.

[Bradly]

I'm probably wrong to say this...but I'd cut them open, pressure wash (3,000 lb pressure at least)  the crud out of them and then maybe 2 or 3 scrubbings with hot soap and water rinse.

But I'm 58 already... and the temptations of the cheaper IBC totes outweigh the extended life scenerio  :-)

 

[Bobby McGovern]

That's exactly what I'm going to do.  It's used in the manufacture of disposable diapers and feminine products so I'm thinking it can't be that deadly.  (hmmm, famous last words...)

The stuff is thick and slick feeling like dishwashing soap, tea colored, and when you add water it gets sudsy.

 

I just got off the phone with the company that makes the stuff.  It's used as a lubricant in fiber extrusion.  I told the guy what I was using it for and he said to just wash it out good and it should be fine.  He said it was NON toxic.

 

He said he'd email me the MSDS.  We'll see what that says....

 

Take care and many thanks....
 
Bradly said:

I'm probably wrong to say this...but I'd cut them open, pressure wash (3,000 lb pressure at least)  the crud out of them and then maybe 2 or 3 scrubbings with hot soap and water rinse.

But I'm 58 already... and the temptations of the cheaper IBC totes outweigh the extended life scenerio  :-)

 

[Jonathan Kadish NYC AA Chair]

I'd feel comfortable with a MSDS that says non-toxic. Nice work.

Bobby McGovern said:

That's exactly what I'm going to do.  It's used in the manufacture of disposable diapers and feminine products so I'm thinking it can't be that deadly.  (hmmm, famous last words...)

The stuff is thick and slick feeling like dishwashing soap, tea colored, and when you add water it gets sudsy.

 

I just got off the phone with the company that makes the stuff.  It's used as a lubricant in fiber extrusion.  I told the guy what I was using it for and he said to just wash it out good and it should be fine.  He said it was NON toxic.

 

He said he'd email me the MSDS.  We'll see what that says....

 

Take care and many thanks....
 
Bradly said:

I'm probably wrong to say this...but I'd cut them open, pressure wash (3,000 lb pressure at least)  the crud out of them and then maybe 2 or 3 scrubbings with hot soap and water rinse.

But I'm 58 already... and the temptations of the cheaper IBC totes outweigh the extended life scenerio  :-)

 

[Bradly]

Ok Bobby, I need to tell you what I tell all my friends... don't listen to me  :-)

I usually operate outside the box !!  :-)