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Lab ether

^You're probably already breathing a bunch of PAHs from that gusher in the gulf.

Robitussin down here comes in polyethylene terephthalate bottles (look for the triangle with a 1). Ether can cause PET to leach, but chances are minimal. Maybe the cap contains polycarbonate, so that would be problematic. Also, you have to assume that its already contaminated.
 
^^

these bottles are being refilled directly from the source. if they're empty all i do is go to the stockroom window and they refill it for me.

it can't be more contaminated than trying to extract ether from starter fluid... so what i would be inhaling is already like magnitudes higher up healthwise than getting it from another source.
 
^^^ The source of Robitussin? Mine is aisle 5 at Walgreens, next to the fuzzy slippers.

I meant if you're gonna pour undergrad chemlab ether into a plastic bottle you should assume some dickhead has poured some used ether back into the ether tin, and that you should assume that whatever was dissolved in his ether will leach your plastic Robitussin bottle. Ergo, plastic is not a good choice.

Offsite thread on ether purification. Happy huffing!
 
ok so the ether (diethyl ether, and i'm pretty sure it's not anhydrous) is in the bottle it came in., and it's sitting in an ice-bath (ice in a cooler) in my room. i've already checked with some other people, but i just wanna make sure that my room isn't going to explode, or the electricity from my fan/computer/TV/sparking a bowl in my room, isn't going to make my room spontaneously combust lol. it's sitting in my closet, and my room reeks of ether.

i'm guessing it's not the best idea to sleep in my room at night? or is the chemicals from the stench pretty much negligible? i dont wanna hurt my brain from being around the stuff all day and night since i won't be able to finally huff it until wednesday. the solvent is giving me a headache already lol.

any tips on storing it? or reasons as to why this would be harmful for huffing? it looks like there's a tiny amount of stuff on the bottom of the bottle. it might have been some iron or something added to prevent the formation of peroxides.
 
yes i already have read all of that, but since i live in an apartment and don't really have access to ventilated areas and stuff, i was just making sure i was taking any necessary precautions, and since i'm also storing it in the room that i'm sleeping in, i was just checking out for myself. ya know?
 
Ether itself is pretty safe. Back in my days, I consumed several liters of HPLC-grade diethyl ether to myself with no ill effects. (Be sure to stay outside so the vapors have someplace to go!)

However, one 4 liter jug that I acquired produced nasty side-effects - I had severe diarrhea for several days after inhaling a modest dose. The label said 99.0% pure (vs. 99.9%for the HPLC-grade ether). It's possible that certain byproducts of commercial ether manufacturing can be bad for your health. Another possibility is that a grad student or post-doc accidentally contaminated the jug with a few drops of some unpleasant chemical.

Stay safe!
 
thx for the heads up. i'll make sure to check to make sure it's 99.9% and not 99.0% next time i have a chance.
 
Riffing off of wungchow . . . what byproducts would we find in commercially prepared ether (besides the ones on Sigma and Fischer; I'm talking more like stuff prepared by fine chemical suppliers in Ulaanbaatar and Ougabougou)?

Is the Williamson synthesis the primary industrial one?
 
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