Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Impurities in glassware

nimbus8 - 24-6-2013 at 12:08

Hey everyone, i just bought a cheap steam distillation kit off ebay. When i got it i noticed little brown divots in the flask. Has anyone else had these? I intend to make perfumes using the set but im not sure if it can be used for stuff that is intended to be sprayed on the skin. Are these brown divots just rust from the glassblowing pipe? The divots are so small that my camera couldnt pick it up.

My plan is to swirl some water around in the flask then send the water to a treatment plant to be tested for toxins. Would this work in seeing if the glassware is safe?

[Edited on 24-6-2013 by nimbus8]

Metacelsus - 24-6-2013 at 12:27

Can you post a picture?

[Edit]
Water may not dissolve whatever it is, and sending it for testing seems like overkill to me.

[Edited on 24-6-2013 by Cheddite Cheese]

Variscite - 24-6-2013 at 13:02

Yeah, post a pic please, if you can. What brand is the glass? Try giving it a good wash in something hot and maybe mildly corrosive and see if it is still there.

nimbus8 - 24-6-2013 at 13:05

Here is the best i could get, my concern is that they sent me a model which had actually been used but they thought i wouldnt notice.



[Edited on 24-6-2013 by nimbus8]

Metacelsus - 24-6-2013 at 16:15

Seems fine to me, as long as you're not using it for vacuum or anything like that. I wouldn't be too worried about contamination -- if you can't get it off, chances are it won't come off into your perfumes.

nimbus8 - 24-6-2013 at 16:30

Im going to email the people i bought it from. It was supposed to be new not used.