Eugene Robkin (erobkin@uwc.edu)
Mon, 17 May 1999 11:12:10 -0500
Judy commented about the problems that not having copper sulphate available
would cause. I can't vouch for the purity but copper sulphate is sold
around here in the farm supply and hardware stores for killing tree roots
in sewer lines. Something around a few dollars per pound. Potassium
permanganate is available as well for removing rust stains from water
softeners.
I think it was Kevin O'Brien who suggested making a list of the potentially
useful chemicals that might be available under some label disguise.
In addition to the above I can add the following that I've seen from time
to time. Some is always available and some comes and goes. As above the
purity is hard to know as is the presence of other additives. In some
cases this is listed as an ingredient rather than the main component so its
usefulness is even harder to judge. The list is in no particular order.
Sodium and potassium bisulphites - rust removers. These are also available
from wine making shops as equipment sterilizers.
Citric, tannic, and tartaric acid - wine making shops.
Oxalic acid - This is in some hardware and woodworking shops as a wood bleach.
EDTA - rust removers. This is never listed as the main ingredient.
Potassium nitrate - tree stump remover. Probably fairly pure.
Hydrochloric acid - swimming pool cleaner and dairy equipment cleaner.
Pure enough.
Mixed sulphuric and phosphoric acid - dairy equipment cleaner. I haven't
seen this for awhile but they were probably not mixed with anything else.
Sulphuric acid used to be available in some auto supply stores for some
sort of rejuvination process on car batteries. I haven't seen this for
some time.
Sulphamic acid - concrete etcher. I've only seen this in one hardware
store. When I checked the other day they had 4 two pound jars and 2 one
pounders.
Sodium silicate - general drug store stuff.
99% isopropyl alcohol - general drug store stuff.
Paraformaldahyde - disinfectant for recreation vehicle sewage holding tanks.
Calcium hypochlorite - swimming pool algae killer and pH adjuster.
Fairly concentrated ammonia - Industrial cleaner.
Sodium hydroxide - Red Devil Lye.
Hydrogen peroxide - hair bleach stuff around 2 to 3 times as concentrated
as the drug store disinfectant.
Sulphur was once common as a garden supply item but is now hard to find.
I also found a gallon can of ElastoSeal in one of the bigger hardware stores.
And the list goes on.
I think such an annotated list of chemicals and their current retail cover
disguises could be useful. Of course those who live in urban concentrates
might find a shortage of outlets dealing with dairy farms and industry
which for me is not adequate compensation for being able to buy sixteen
flavors of frozen yogurt on every block. Heck, we don't even have a
Starbucks closer than 45 miles but the local surplus resources would make
you positively faint with envy.
Take care.
Gene Robkin
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0b3 on Thu Oct 28 1999 - 21:39:33