Jonathan C Hall (platinumprint@mediaone.net)
Mon, 17 May 1999 15:43:00 -0400
I would be very interested in a list that covered chemicals under different
guises.
Jonathan
Eugene Robkin wrote:
> 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