[Bioweapon1224]

I've been making smoke bombs with  potassium nitrate. I've been storing the Potassium Nitrate in a plastic bag. So my questions are;

1. Is Potassium Nitrate really all that hazardous? Do you think I'll get any long term effects from just keeping it around and spooning some of it every now and then into a container?
2. Could someone tell me about the interaction of animals (dogs and cats) with Potassium Nitrate? Is it extremely hazardous to them?
3. If I have some short term effects from the potassium Nitrate, should I go see a doctor and get a blood test and all that etc?

Thanks a bunch, and please don't flame me, I just want to take EXTREME caution in this...

Edited to conform to forum rules

[billnotgatez]

From
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_nitrate

In the process of food preservation, potassium nitrate is a common ingredient of salted meat, but there are theories indicating that using nitrates in meats can cause cancer. As a preservative it can be known as E252.

Potassium nitrate is also called Nitrate of potash or Saltpetre

I do not know the effect of the smoke produced by your application.



BTW please read this forums rules

[constant thinker]

If you ever want to know about any hazards a chemical might have (for future reference), just look it's MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet).

[billnotgatez]

Even the MSDS for sodium chloride is daunting.

http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/englishhtml/S3338.htm

So I would assume the same difficulty for potassium nitrate.

http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/englishhtml/P5950.htm

But I find lots of useful information in them.

Both Table Salt and Saltpetre (saltpeter) are used with foods. Of course the salt is used more often.