[Scintillation]

Hello all,

I've noticed that a lot of bottles kept in storage cabinets are all greasy on the outside. This is true for every lab I've been into, so I guess you know what I'm talking about.

I wonder if there's a risk that these volatile compounds which spread throughout the cabinet and stick to some bottles can contaminate chemicals, that is, find their way into bottles even if they seem to be closed tight. I'd like to find out what are these chemicals and store them separately, but I'm a little confused.

At first, I thought these were amines, since nearly all the bottles that contain amines are greasy. But I also found the deuterated acetone bottle to be greasy, so it's not as simple as that. Plus, it looks like bottles on the upper layers of the cabinet are more greasy than the ones  at the bottom.

Do you have any idea?

Thanks

Max

[renge ishyo]

In theory the solution to the problem is simple; you can take out a rag and wipe off the outside of each bottle to clean them so that they are no longer greasy. In practice this is seldom done because it requires physical effort.

[408]

The greasy bottles will be the ones used after someone was using an oil bath...

[Scintillation]

Ok guys I will wipe off the outside of each bottle, then take a proton NMR of the dirt and show it to you so that you stop claiming this is oil from the bath.

Anyone has a better answer?

[gfunk]

Good luck, have fun.

I've only noticed that for really old bottles.

Anyhow, it's one thing for volatile vapours to come out of a small orifice and diffuse.  It's another thing to concentrate and go through a separate orifice.  That's a physical chemistry thing and I haven't done physical chemistry for some time...

[lmlh]

In our lab, all chemical production were kept in ventilated cabinets, this is good for chemicals and your healthy

[renge ishyo]

Anyone has a better answer?

It would be hard to generalize without knowing what the chemicals are. There are some chemicals that can be quite dangerous if they are "spilled" on the sides of the containers and others that are harmless. Certain chemicals can slowly vaporize over time and if these vapors get loose in the lab and people are breathing them in routinely it can cause problems. Then again , this is one of the reason why we chemists end up so "special" as we get older 

Still if it bugs you, then cleaning them to be safe is the answer. Obsessive compulsive tendencies +1.

[nj_bartel]

Our chemical storage fridge smacks the hell out of your nose with pungent odor everytime it's opened.  Isn't very reassuring that right on the middle shelf is a bottle of phosgene that's been there for at least 2 years.  Definitely gotten in the habit of holding my breath while opening that thing.