Polyethylene vials for storing chemicals

[kiken11]

Hi, I'm not sure if this is the right forum to ask this, if it isn't please mods feel free to direct me to the correct forum but anyway:

I was wondering if storing compounds dilluted either in water or alcohol in polyethylene (PET) bottles and vials would have a negative effect on the drugs' potency? I am aware that PVC is not recommended for keeping chemicals or paintings, as it would start eating them up. I have been told that Polyethylene is much more safer than PVC though' and that you can even keep some forms of acid within it. I know the safest bet would be glass, but does anybody know if PET is safe for keeping chemicals, at least for the duration of a month?

I know there are different types of PET but I'm asking generally. It's just the PET one would use to make bottles and such items.

Thanks in advance. Bye.

 

[kidamnesiac]

should be fine for most druqks, but glass is generally best

 

[fastandbulbous]

PET is polyethylene teraphthalate, not polyethylene which is usually referred to as PE (either LDPE for low density or HDPE for... you guessed it, high density polyethylene). Polyethylene containers are generally chemically resistant to just about everything chemical, whereas this isn't the case with PET - try putting a couple of drops of assorted organic solvents on a PET bottle; a fair few will deform it (GBL has a disasterous effect on PET, as I found out to my cost once)

 

[vecktor]

polythene is permeable to oxygen and water in the air, so anything stored in it will be exposed to much more oxidation than if it was in glass.
This effect will be greater if the contents are a solution in an alcohol or water both of which can dissolve a lot of atmospheric o2.

That said most PEA's are indestructable
tryptamines are not
and ergolines like LSD very much not

 

[Bondmaker]

Elaborating on ...

What fastandbulbous said. There are cheap polyethylenes and expensive polypropylenes. It's all in the "Structure". Polymerization of ethylene is usually accomplished by cationic or freeradical catalysts. The idea is to get the highest molecular weight with the least side chains caused by "back biting" of the initiated chain. Good linear polyethylenes of high molecular weight are "tougher" than short chain molecules of PE with side chains along their length. But this brings another problem; increased "crystallinity" of PE makes for a more brittle material that has to be compensated for by adding "plasticizers", in order to easily work the material into shapes. Also, cheap plastics don't get all of the catalyst out (a process called deashing), which makes for a further "not so great" product. The best "plastic bottles" that you can get to store anything in are made from a material called "high molecular weight isotactic polypropylene". With it's highly crystalline form, it is impermeable to even highly acidic or basic substances, and even most organic solvents.
But whenever i wanted to store something in solution, i would always use glass. And If i had to store known highly degradable compounds, in solution, i would store them in brown ampoules (easy enough to do with ampoule blanks and a hand torch), and store them in the freezer.

 

[kiken11]

more on the subject

Well, I'm clueless about what specifical type of plastic the vials are, I was just told it was PE and there's no reference whatsoever in the bottles about their chemical make-up. They were bought in a plastics store and were indicated to be acid resistant.

I will try and see if this isn't PET, then this plastic would be alright. Everybody agrees that PEA's are pretty resistant and may even outlive all of us, properly stored. Are there any PEA's that are uniquely weak compared to the rest? What about K (I know its not PEA, just asking)?

Some people may save their shit in plastic syringes anyway, I reckon.