Morning cuppa ...... SODIUM SULPHITE !

This morning my friend made us a cup of tea in bed. After a couple of mouthfulls each, we both agreed the water tasted a bit strange .... kind of like a 'nasty sweetness'. Turned out that she'd filled the kettle from a jug of what she thought was water but was in fact a solution of diluted Kodak Hypo Clear I'd left on the table from last nights printing session !! Being a used solution it would have also contained traces of fixer too ! It was added to fresh water already in the kettle so this would have diluted it down even further. The warnings on the packet didn't seem too severe and it just said to drink plenty of water.
I knew something like this was going to happen sooner or later and I'm the first to admit I'm not the most safety conscious person when it comes to working with chemicals and also because I don't have washing facilities in my darkroom, the kitchen sink area always comes into play.

I'm wondering if anyone else has had any similar mishaps with chemicals or other darkroom ingredients ? Also, wouldn't it be a good idea if manufacturers could give some kind of 'Inert Colouring' to the solutions we use for processing in order to easily identify what's what ? Indicator stop bath has similar to this so why not other chemicals ? I know the correct advice is to label everything clearly but sometimes it's easy to slip up and get confused when looking at clear solutions in clear measuring devices scattered about on the work surface.

Anyway, I'm writng this many hours later and don't appear to be experiencing any ill effects or behaving any stranger than normal !! Could've been alot worse .... selenium toner 1:3 perhaps !!

The traces of fixer will surely keep anything from developing.

Steve

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry9000/4.6.0.167 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102 UP.Link/6.3.0.0.0)

And when these letters start to dance around before your eyes that means it's time for another round.

bill spears said:

... Also, wouldn't it be a good idea if manufacturers could give some kind of 'Inert Colouring' to the solutions we use for processing in order to easily identify what's what?...

Click to expand...

The basic law of evolution...Making something idiot-proof just tempts nature to create a better idiot...:munch:

Vaughn

PS...what colour do you have in mind? Any colour you can think of already exists as some sort of fruit juice/Kool-aid/etc...

"The fault, my dear Brutus, lies not in the stars but ourselves." Step up your game, label all bottles, have correct storage facilities, use them and follow correct safety proceedures.

If you have an erection lasting longer than four hours, seek medical (or some other form of) attention.

Murray

bill spears said:

Also, wouldn't it be a good idea if manufacturers could give some kind of 'Inert Colouring' to the solutions we use for processing in order to easily identify what's what ?

Click to expand...

Maybe it's time for the lecture about proper labelling of chemical containers?

Sodium sulphite is added to wine, which causes allergic reactions in some people. If you haven't had one, you're probably fine. The silver in used fixer is a more serious concern, but if it was just traces, that's probably OK too.

Thanks for a reassuring answer !

Should have put this in the joke thread.

Looking forward to the erection problems somebody mentioned

Yea, if you read all the ingredient labels on food you will find sulfite listed frequently. At least it was fat free!!..Evan Clarke

This post is a good example of why darkroom chemicals should always be clearly labelled and stored away from food. Where I work, if I made a habit of storing chemicals near food, or leaving wrongly labelled containers lying around, my lab would get shut down.

Reminds me of a guy I once worked with who took a big swig out of an unmarked bottle that contained trichloroethane. He was very ill.

A few years ago I was helping a friend rennovate his house. His father was also helping out using a potassium permanganate solution as a wood stain. He had this solution in exactly the same style of glass as the similar coloured red wine which he was drinking whilst working.

He didn't get them mixed up but we're not sure how he distinguished between them!


Steve.

It's my guess that you're both now archival. You're guaranteed to get a telegram from the Queen...

Bob H

They use sodium sulfite to preserve the color of the raw veggies on buffet tables--or at least they did at one time.

BobNewYork said:

It's my guess that you're both now archival.

Click to expand...

Aha, but for real permanence you still need to stand there with a hosepipe in the mouth for ten minutes surely ?

I always shudder when people on APUG mention that they are storing chemicals in recycled beverage containers, because situations like this are just waiting to happen.

Chazzy said:

I always shudder when people on APUG mention that they are storing chemicals in recycled beverage containers, because situations like this are just waiting to happen.

Click to expand...

Not if they are properly marked, would be a good general marking on both sides of a bottle.

psvensson said:

Sodium sulphite is added to wine, which causes allergic reactions in some people. If you haven't had one, you're probably fine. The silver in used fixer is a more serious concern, but if it was just traces, that's probably OK too.

Click to expand...

One of my friends is a wine maker who complained to me one day about having to identify sodium sulfite as an ingredient simply because the wine bottles are sterilized by sulfur dioxide from a sulfur candle.

Once upon a time there was a chemical plant near Morgantown, WV. All water puddles were sulfurous acid baths and all cars sooner or later had lace fenders. This was probably the stimulus for undercoating, which was originally applied after purchase. I don't know how many of you are old enough to remember that without being too old to remember it.

gainer said:

One of my friends is a wine maker who complained to me one day about having to identify sodium sulfite as an ingredient simply because the wine bottles are sterilized by sulfur dioxide from a sulfur candle.

Once upon a time there was a chemical plant near Morgantown, WV. All water puddles were sulfurous acid baths and all cars sooner or later had lace fenders. This was probably the stimulus for undercoating, which was originally applied after purchase. I don't know how many of you are old enough to remember that without being too old to remember it.

Click to expand...

I always though that undercoating came about due to the need of governments to use Sodium Chloride as a chemical snow remover in more Northern climates combined with the ability of cars in the 1970's to essentially rust out before your very eyes. IIRC Fords and early Hondas were the worst for this.

wogster said:

I always though that undercoating came about due to the need of governments to use Sodium Chloride as a chemical snow remover in more Northern climates combined with the ability of cars in the 1970's to essentially rust out before your very eyes. IIRC Fords and early Hondas were the worst for this.

Click to expand...

Please do not forget my '86 Chevy Blazer, "Rusty", that I had in Rochester New York. Rochester has the best politicians that money can buy, because Monroe County has salt mines and the politicians are easily bought by the salt processing companies.

Steve

Jordan said:

This post is a good example of why darkroom chemicals should always be clearly labelled and stored away from food. Where I work, if I made a habit of storing chemicals near food, or leaving wrongly labelled containers lying around, my lab would get shut down.

Click to expand...

I have a Dymo label printer at home with which I clearly label all containers used for photography - and there is absolutely no crossover between photography containers and food ones, even if the only chemical they're intended for is H2O.

This has so far prevented a similar problem. It's not prevented a houseguest getting up in the middle of the night and drinking from a vase, though... Apparently I need to label a few more things...

tim_walls said:

I have a Dymo label printer at home with which I clearly label all containers used for photography
...
This has so far prevented a similar problem. It's not prevented a houseguest getting up in the middle of the night and drinking from a vase, though... Apparently I need to label a few more things...

Click to expand...

Do you have dogs? Maybe you could try labeling your toilet bowl....

srs5694 said:

Do you have dogs? Maybe you could try labeling your toilet bowl....

Click to expand...

Isn't the question really - do you have dogs that can read the labels?

Matt

Okay, so my experience isn't photography related but who cares. It was chemistry class in high school. We were told never to pipette anything by mouth but to use the rubber suction bulb instead. I didn't listen. Thought I could control that hydrosulfurous acid with my own suction. I was wrong and got a mouth full. Never swallowed it, but my teeth felt funny for a few days after. Needless to say, once I got to a university chemistry course I always, always, always used the suction bulb. Haha!