Chem questions

[jim appleyard]

Last night I inherited some chemicals:

1) Kodak "Permanent Crystal Pyro" (cute little 1 oz. glass jars with wax seal on top). I assume this is pyrogallic acid?

2) Cadmium bromide. What is this stuff used for and I know all chems are dangerous if mishandled, but is this stuff particularly nasty?

TIA, Jim

 

[Robert Hall]

I can tell you a 1.5 gram dose of Pyro is lethal. (fortunatly not from personal experience.)

 

[reellis67]

Cadmium is toxic to be sure, but I think it was used in coating paper at one point. I seem to remember reading about it once in some old literature, and then something else about it being in a lot of manufactured papers at one time, but being removed for environmental reasons. I *believe* that it is one of the things that older printers lament being missing in the new papers of today, but I could be wrong.

- Randy

 

[Photo Engineer]

Cadmium was indeed used in making photographic papers up until about 1969. It was eliminated due to toxicity.

It was used to control contrast.

PE

 

[jim appleyard]

OK on the toxicity of cadmium. Does it have a current use in my darkroom and how to dispose of it if it doesn't?

 

[Ian Grant]

Cadmium Bromide could be used in a cadmium toner, but this has little prcatical use as it tones the image white It does work though I tried this back in the mid 70's, the emulsion was coated on a dark coloured base.

Cadmium was used by Agfa until very late in the 1980's in Record Rapid and Portriga warm toned papers.

Can't advise on how to dispose of it.

Ian

 

[reellis67]

You could contact the fire department. They often have HAZMAT facilities that might be able to properly dispose of it, especialy if it is a small amount.

- Randy

 

[Gerald Koch]

Since you can buy pyrogallol rather cheaply, I would save the Kodak jars unopened as historical artifacts. They are worth more that way than for just the chemical inside. County governments usually have some sort of hazardous material disposal method. I would contact them about the cadmium bromide.

 

[smieglitz]

I use cadmium bromide in the wetplate collodion process. How much of it do you have?

Joe

 

[jim appleyard]

I use cadmium bromide in the wetplate collodion process. How much of it do you have?

Joe

1 oz.; old as the hills. Made by Chas. Pfizer, NY. It's pretty much a lump of rock.