Corrosive effects of chlorine dioxide tablets

Now we have to figure out a way to harness that reaction to aid all mankind.

–B.G.–

I sure hope it corrodes the wee little beasties just as well.

As Dupont liked to put in its ads right about the time of the Bhopal accident: "Without chemmicals life itself would be impossible." Feel better now?

The tables need to be exposed to water in order to generate Chlorine dioxide. If the packaging of the tablets is not damaged there should have not been any chlorine dioxide. Water on the outside of the packaging will not pass through the packaging of the tablets.

However if you have a little moisture in the container it would have reacted with battery causing corrosion. Even if chlorine was not pressent.

I would check the packaging of the tables for damage. Also press on the packaging to see if any tablets are soft. If the packaging is damaged one or more of the tables may not be pressent or very soft. If you do find a flaw in the packaging I would advise discarding the entire set. The remaining tablets may not be strong enough to purify water.

How old are those tablets? I've seen that the packaging breaks down over time as the tablets eat through it.

After reading the post…I quickly ran to my ditty bag ->

In one of my small sandwich bag ziplocks I had my micropur tablets, streamlight microstream, eneloop battery, and leatherman style. (and various other items).

These have been stored together for over a year…and I don't see any corrosion on any metal or electronic item…probably just purely anecdotal though.

Regardless…I still put the micropur tables in its own separate ziplock (though I doubt it will really block corrosive gases for long….)

BPL commenters come through with some good potential causes. Thanks.

– Age of tablets: Unknown, but younger than their expiration date. I hope the packaging is good at least that long!

– Water: No water in the cup, but we get over 90% humidity here for part of almost every day.

– Damaged packaging: Bingo, very likely. For me, ripping each pill packet from the strip of packets often results in wayward tears. Quite possible a partly torn pill packet was in the cup with the electronics. Thanks Steven!

John – your stash should be good if the packets are intact.

I’ve had other chemical water purifiers corrode stuff before. Around 1980, I bough a half pound of USP iodine crystals (the smallest quantity available), and made my own water purification bottles. The big bottle corroded lots of stuff in the vicinity, and the little Nalgene bottles turned brown and brittle in a couple of months.

In the early 2000s, I used Polar Pure commercially packaged iodine crystals in a glass bottle. Still managed to corrode nearby stuff.

Buying iodine crystals or anything containing them is much harder in USA now, but that’s another topic.

— Rex

I think that Polar Pure went out of business. Bob Wallace just couldn't get along with the DEA guys. They kept thinking that his iodine must be falling into the hands of the illegal drug labs.

I can't imagine a half pound of iodine crystals. The last time that I made up a iodine bottle for water, I used 4 grams. That is still in my back room, rusting up anything metal nearby.

–B.G.–