Acetone container swelling; safe to keep?

From: pete_at_dunnington.u-net.com <(pete_at_dunnington.u-net.com)>
Date: Sun Jan 5 14:07:00 2003

On Jan 5, 15:45, quapla_at_xs4all.nl wrote:

> Use a plastic or a glass bottle. If there is a sparc next time you open
it
> it may fry your eyebrows and/or hair!.

NOT plastic. Acetone, MEK, toluene, and many other organic solvents are
sometimes supplied in 1-litre pastic containers but should not be kept in
plastic for long-term storage. Even polythene bottles will be damaged in
the long term -- they go brittle as the plasticisers are leached out.

Such things are normally kept in glass bottles for small quantities, say up
to 500ml, or metal tins for a litre or more.

>On Jan 5, 10:08, R. D. Davis wrote:
> > Speaking of Acetone, I noticed that an old metal container of it that
> > I have keeps swelling up and creasing the metal a bit after it's
> > reclosed, and vapors hiss out of it when it's opened. The container
> > is slightly rusty, and probably only about six or seven years old. Is
> > this anything to be concerned about?

Is it kept somewhere warm? It should be kept cool (no more than 68deg F).
 If it's reasonably pure acetone, I can't think of any reaction it should
have with steel or tin, so I guess what you're noticing is evaporation
causing a slight pressure buildup in the can. Unless it's contaminated --
it doesn't co-exist well with some other solvents (such as chloroform) and
moderately strong oxidising agents, or some catalysts (including some forms
of carbon).

If it's rusting, then you should probably replace the can before it becomes
weak enough to leak.

-- 
Pete						Peter Turnbull
						Network Manager
						University of York
Received on Sun Jan 05 2003 - 14:07:00 GMT

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