Testing C-41 dev/blix strength & particles floating in developer. Still okay to use?

[VintageCollector]

Hi everyone,

I have a question regarding the usability of C-41 chemicals. I had mixed a batch of Unicolor C-41 development powder kit in distilled water back in late Nov 2019. I had stored the chemicals in a complete;y black bottles with all dirt squeezed out and in refrigerator. So, until February 2020 I had developed 7 or 8 rolls of film (Fuji Superia HQ 200, Xtra 400, Fujicolor 200 & Ultramax 400) in this mix until now.

The developer had turned from light yellowish to pink color now. I guess that from the film dye though I give them a prewash, mainly the fuji films. I tried a film strip test and the results are shown in picture below: 1- Film cut from roll, 2- Dropped in developer, 3- Dropped in Blix. I noticed there are some particles in the developer. Does it mean it's bad? Can I just vacuum filter it to remove the particles and keep using it? My Blix though seems to have no floating particles and is brownish red color. What is the longest duration you guys have used and store a C-41 kit? Oh and one thing I noticed is with a 4 piece of strip was that after dropping in developer for 4 mins and then in blix for 6.5 mins the film turned out green. I assume this is because the strip got exposed to light completely?

Since C-41 kits have started becoming pricey don't just want to throw it away if it's good. I might use this batch of chemicals only for non-important rolls since I wouldn't need to worry a lot in case something goes seriously wrong. What do you guys think? BTW can the exhausted chemicals be discarded down the drain or they require special handling?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Donald Qualls]

It would be reasonable to put a chemical with particles in it through a filter (coffee filter in a funnel, for instance), but it certainly looks like your color developer and blix are working to some level.

Disposal of C-41 chemistry depends a lot on where you are. What country, city sewer or septic? Generally, it's not recommended to put chemicals into septic systems, but city sewer treatment can handle hobbyist quantities of most common photo chemicals -- except that in some locations it's against the law to dump them into the sewer system.

 

[VintageCollector]

It would be reasonable to put a chemical with particles in it through a filter (coffee filter in a funnel, for instance), but it certainly looks like your color developer and blix are working to some level.

Disposal of C-41 chemistry depends a lot on where you are. What country, city sewer or septic? Generally, it's not recommended to put chemicals into septic systems, but city sewer treatment can handle hobbyist quantities of most common photo chemicals -- except that in some locations it's against the law to dump them into the sewer system.

Thanks for the reply. I'll filter it and get all the particles removed. That's a bit of relief that it works. I didn't have expectation at all that it would work at all after so long.

The reason I asked about the disposal is because some people were saying the blix is kind harmful, but others say it's fine. I guess I'll take it to a proper place to discard it. Maybe to my workplace where they have special chemical disposal section. Well I guess even ifs someone dumped it into the sewer system there is no way to identify it.

 

[Donald Qualls]

Blix contains bleach (which is mostly ferric EDTA) and fixer (mostly ammonium thiosulfate, though C-41 fixer may also have some thiocyanate). None of that is horrific compared to ordinary sewage. Color developer has preservatives (sufite or sulfonates, mainly) and a small percentage of developing agent (a poly-phenylene-diamine derivative, a skin irritant and mildly toxic). Both components will have various acids and alkali for pH control and buffering. The Final Rinse is basically a wetting agent (non-ionic surfactant) with an anti-fungal/anti-bacterial ingredient, a close relative of (if not the same as) one used for athlete's foot and ringworm.

Your employer's disposal system will want/need to know what the stuff is, at least to the point of having a copy of the SDS for each solution, but if they'll handle it, that's probably the best way to dispose of color chemicals when theyy're exhausted. I used to put one-shot B&W developers and one-shot B&W fixer (plain sodium thiosulfate at low concentration) down my drain -- that was generally half a liter of each once or twice a week. Far too little to be a big deal on sewer treatment.