IMS not actually IMS!

[Steve B]

We bought some Ammonium Nitrate from Better Equipped. Did not work in cool pack experiment. Turned out to be Potassium Hydroxide.

 

[Jeff]

Would have got hot rather than cold then? I use Better Equipped a fair bit. I'll check their deliveries a bit more thoroughly in future.

 

[Better Equipped]

Steve B please get in touch with us (Phil Backes...head of operations) as we’d like to carry out a thorough investigation. Mislabelling chemicals would clearly be a problem on many levels and it's not something we have ever come across with our manufacturer, so we need to check batch info. etc. We look forward to hearing from you. Best regards. Tim

 

[Better Equipped]

Hi all.

Our manufacturer has investigated this issue and has responded below. Hopefully modifying the bottles and utilizing tape will eradicate any contamination going forward. Best regards from the BEES team!

“We are dropping 6 Bottles off to you tomorrow, They have the Batch of 1794/4N and also as a precaution we have taped the Tops on the bottles.

We have tested the bottle returned to us and it does not burn as a spirit should, We do not know how the contamination in the 5 bottles has occurred, but as a gesture of good will we will send 6 FOC replacements (Tested and Burning well),

We will also look at taping the bottles lids in future as this may prevent any tampering with the goods and also if the tape has been removed then the customer will know if the bottle has been previously opened / used etc..”

 

[karen b]

We will also look at taping the bottles lids in future as this may prevent any tampering with the goods and also if the tape has been removed then the customer will know if the bottle has been previously opened / used etc..”

Why does that not happen as a matter of course? I am sure at one time all chemicals used to come with a plastic seal of some kind over the lid.

 

[Peter Sigsworth]

I'm thinking this is becoming an increasing problem as I had a sealed bottle 100vol H2O2 delivered from a different supplier which was completely inert (probably water) and also a bottle of bromothymol blue which did not react at all with either acid or alkali - it was blue coloured water. I think the problem is getting worse as suppliers look for cheaper sources usually from India or China instead of the old European suppliers - Sigma Aldrich or Fisher. We need to keep each other updated when we come across this to check how common it is becoming.
Have you come across this problem @David Sait from your work with RSC?

 

[Peter Sigsworth]

Oh - I also got some 'Soluble' starch which I couldn't get clear at all even with prolonged boiling- most of it was settled out. Previous batches from the same school supplier clarified with minimum heating. I have also noticed that some bottles now say 'super pure' which to my knowledge is not an accepted method of stating the purity. I fear that standards of chemical purity/quality from school suppliers have recently taken a dive!

 

[karen b]

Oh - I also got some 'Soluble' starch which I couldn't get clear at all even with prolonged boiling- most of it was settled out. Previous batches from the same school supplier clarified with minimum heating. I have also noticed that some bottles now say 'super pure' which to my knowledge is not an accepted method of stating the purity. I fear that standards of chemical purity/quality from school suppliers have recently taken a dive!

We have some starch that doesn’t dissolve properly. When weighing out the usual amount and making it up you get a wallpaper paste consistency. We use it in a junior science experiment Making Plastic from Starch