trying to find DHMO locally having trouble

removed account4 · May 17, 2013

i know some of you folks use a variety of chemistry,
i'm trying to locate a supplier of PURE-DHMO and i am having trouble.
ive gone to the familiar places as well as local chemical suppliers
but i can't find a good source.

here is the MSDS sheet for it.
have any of you used it before? and should i really be as worried as the sheet suggests ?

thanks!

ambaker · May 17, 2013

I've used it on a regular basis. I find that without adding some to my favorite developer powders makes development almost impossible.

The caution against the inhalation of the liquid form should not be taken lightly. It is indeed just about as deadly a proposition as they come.

PM me for dealers. I can also help with purification, if what you have available is not absolutely pure.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

dotyj · May 17, 2013

Could DHMO be boiled to kill off impurities? What about distilling it?

I use DHMO to extend the usable volume of my liquid chemicals, but pure DHMO is very difficult to come by where I live.

AgX · May 17, 2013

ambaker said:
PM me for dealers.HD

Over here we are allowed to have a pipeline for supply directly into the darkroom.

Prices are rising though. As with all chemistries we need.

removed account4 · May 17, 2013

PM sent.

AgX
you folks in the germany are lucky we can't get this stuff
piped in easily, and then if you talk to the right people, shake the right hands &c
you get low-grade piped in, and they are sticklers about how you get rid of it.

dotyj
i have tried to boil the small amounts i have, but it concentrates the impurities, maybe i'll boil it
and recapture the vapor?

i'll try anything at this point, because the local thieves that sell it charge a few dollars /L ( and it isn't even pure ).

dotyj · May 17, 2013

jnanian said:
PM sent.

dotyj
i have tried to boil the small amounts i have, but it concentrates the impurities, maybe i'll boil it
and recapture the vapor?

i'll try anything at this point, because the local thieves that sell it charge a few dollars /L ( and it isn't even pure ).

Okay, so that won't work. You may need to distill it then. Of course making and using a still may not be legal. Plus you would need very large quantities of DHMO to start with and storing it safely may be a problem.

Also what do you do with the byproducts?

Rudeofus · May 17, 2013

DHMO often comes with intentional impurities which hinder problems when it is ingested. Since these impurities sometimes interfere with photographic processes, filtration and/or a decent chelating agent (EDTA, DTPA, Calgon, Dequest) might be needed to make the DHMO work for us. If Chlorine impurities are a problem, boiling the DHMO should get rid of it.

removed account4 · May 17, 2013

i'm not exactly sure what the byproducts are, and large
amounts i will have trouble storing .. i do have a still though,
from my days in the "earthlocked DHMO recapture" group i worked with, im
not sure if my better half ( the one with common sense! ) will take too kindly
to me getting the materials together. i was using black plastic, clear plastic and a weight
and using the sun, rather than anyother heat source to neat up the TF.

i might try my local pharmacist again ... i know when i was overseas in france
i got it at the same time i got ascobic acid and sodium carbonate ( at local pharmacist ) ...
but it was filled with solids, and magnesium - no chlorine though.

this is all sounding too complicated, and dangerous.
i am starting to thinking about the MSDS again
maybe i should just try to do what i need without-it.

JBrunner · May 17, 2013

I often mix mine with alcohol as it seems to work better for me. I source a lot of mine in bottles from a local service station. They seem happy to sell it to me.

dotyj · May 17, 2013

jnanian said:
i might try my local pharmacist again ... i know when i was overseas in france
i got it at the same time i got ascobic acid and sodium carbonate ( at local pharmacist ) ...
but it was filled with solids, and magnesium - no chlorine though.

You can buy ascorbic acid, sodium carbonate and DHMO at pharmacies in France? They don't happen to sell instant coffee too do they?

Though I get my DHMO locally I've been buying ascorbic acid and sodium carbonate online. I should check our local pharmacy for those. The problem is that if I do go to the pharmacy and ask for ascorbic acid, sodium carbonate, and DHMO I'm going to end up on some sort of watch list.

JBrunner · May 17, 2013

dotyj said:
The problem is that if I do go to the pharmacy and ask for ascorbic acid, sodium carbonate, and DHMO I'm going to end up on some sort of watch list.

I'm somewhat surprised it can still be sourced at all. I've never tried to make the non-oxidized version, but I think it could be done. I suppose it would be pretty unstable though.

pgomena · May 17, 2013

You need to move to Oregon. We have so much here that people have drowned in it!

Tom1956 · May 17, 2013

There's a small lake on the back edge of my property that has severe DMHO pollution. And the EPA has never been able to find the source of the contamination.

removed account4 · May 17, 2013

dotyj

they don't sell the coffee in pharmacies, but i have see them drink it. i bought it at le clerc "el gringo" it was TOPS "le meilleur"
mes pelicules sont été trés épaises but here in the states there is a lot of control over DMHO it is kind of over the top i have realized.

jason, you are crazy to mix it with alcohol .. did you have any adverse reactions ... did you get prunny skin if you drank too much and spilled it? have had prunny skin from DHMO before it took what seemed forever to get rid of it,
it wasn't as bad as blackpaw, but pretty bad.

peter - i've a friend in oregon who said he can help me, but i am worried about transport,
from what i understand it is tricky to ship and an be corrosive and cause trouble if there is a spill.

tom - we have the same problem where i live.

the more i read about the situation the more i want to move to the northwest, canada or overseas.

MattKing · May 17, 2013

It's true, we in Canada have some.

This is some of the overflow from our local DHMO reservoir.

removed account4 · May 17, 2013

matt:

do you HAVE to rub it in !?
john

Dave Wooten · May 17, 2013

Try a feed and tack store, it has veterinary uses.

Tom1956 · May 17, 2013

JBrunner said:
I often mix mine with alcohol as it seems to work better for me. I source a lot of mine in bottles from a local service station. They seem happy to sell it to me.

I do not recommend mixing it with alcohol, as it dilutes it. Because of this, one uses more alcohol that he might have otherwise used. Side effects of use of too much of this compound has been found by the Surgeon General to cause emesis and severe headaches.

Gerald C Koch · May 17, 2013

DHMO is a poison in large enough doses and can cause death. The medical term is hyponatremia and every day people who are overzealous about hydration wind up in emergency rooms. When the sodium content of the blood drops below a certain value the brain swells and causes death. Early symptoms are dizziness, headache and irregular heart beat. NO JOKE!

dotyj · May 18, 2013

MattKing said:
It's true, we in Canada have some.

This is some of the overflow from our local DHMO reservoir.

Holy crap that's irresponsible. Considering it's dangers I can't imagine why anyone would store vast quantities of DHMO.

desertrat · May 18, 2013

Gerald C Koch said:
DHMO is a poison in large enough doses and can cause death. The medical term is hyponatremia and every day people who are overzealous about hydration wind up in emergency rooms. When the sodium content of the blood drops below a certain value the brain swells and causes death. Early symptoms are dizziness, headache and irregular heart beat. NO JOKE!

Whenever I see my doctor, he bugs me to drink more DHMO. I light of the above, I'll take his advice with a grain of -er- Natrium.

pdeeh · May 18, 2013

john - get a powder version & you could then make up a stock which you dilute to whatever strength you like ...

Kirk Keyes · May 19, 2013

jnanian said:
the more i read about the situation the more i want to move to the northwest, canada or overseas.

It's been falling from the sky here in Oregon today.

But as we like to say in Oregon, Do come to Oregon to visit, but please don't stay...

Gerald C Koch · May 19, 2013

pdeeh said:
john - get a powder version & you could then make up a stock which you dilute to whatever strength you like ...

Actually this is not too farfetched. One bottler of water starts with distilled water and then adds back certain minerals.

Kirk Keyes · May 19, 2013

This thread is so Jr. High School!

Not that it stops me from posting...

trying to find DHMO locally having trouble

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