[morphie]

I have a deep, deep love for a specific kind of reagent bottle that is no longer being made.  The original manufacturer is no longer in business, but they did some really nice permanent labeling on pyrex reagent bottles, and I've collected a few off of ebay - they look like this:



I've so far gotten one for carbon disulfide, and one for hydrochloric acid.  I have asked both sellers what their history is.  The HCl was purchased at a school sale and the seller "expects" it has only ever had HCl in it.  The CS2 bottle's seller claims it is new and has never contained anything at all.  I am asking because I would love to have these containers used to store my various consumable ethanol potions

Obviously, it's not terribly bright to use second-hand labware for food applications.  What I'm wondering is: is there a way to make sure they're good to go?  In the case of the HCl bottle, several thorough rinses should be fine if it only ever had HCl in it, but what if it's had something else?  Is there a way to find out?

In the case of CS2 - should I trust someone telling me nothing has ever been in it?  I've already bought the bottle so he has no incentive to lie.  Again, is there a way to know for sure? 

Thanks for any and all help. 

[Custos]

You just need to make sure they are scrupulously clean. I'd start out by scrubbing the insides out with a brush (e.g. new test tube brush) and hot water with detergent. Rinse that out and then do the same with some low boiling organic solvents -- acetone and ethanol would be good. Rinse thoroughly with water after that and dry and it should be okay. The only caveat is if the bottle has been used to store insoluble metal/inorganic salts, that are also toxic. You could never be sure that you got all of that out although the scrubbing with detergent should be pretty good. Otherwise if the bottle have only contained liquids like HCl, CS2 etc. you should be fine.