toxins in the bottles!?

[Larisa W.]

Hi all,

I am sure we have all had this happen; a bottle with a lid! what is in it?

I am not talking about the funky dirt and water and weed combo, I mean a pungent, chemical type odor, or a white powder, or a bunch of pills stuck inside. Can these items harm us after all these years? I usually make my husband remove the lid and contents, cause it freaks me out a little. Should I worry?

Larisa W.

 

[Harry Pristis]

Don't worry, Larisa! You're safe!

OTOH, maybe your husband should worry. LOL There are chemicals that remain dangerous indefinitely -- rat poison with cyanide comes to mind. Compounds containing mercury were a common treatment for "gleet."

I am most apprehensive about canning jars that have been discarded sealed. Biotoxins can be dangerous long after the organism that produced them may be dead.

Reasonable precautions are in order when dealing with any unidentified chemical or biological material.

-----------Harry Pristis

 

[Pontiled]

Sealed containers CAN contain lethal or injurious materials in them, regardless of age. Some of the materials can be: narcotic compounds, acids, poisons of all kinds, and non-narcotics used in medicines that have decomposed over the years.

Cases in point:

1) I once had a sealed open-pontiled marked bottle (embossed) that contained mostly heroin derivitave (mostly the narcotic, little thinner). I flushed that one down the sink, even though it contained a few thousand dollars worth of heroin in it).

2) Acids don't necessarily loose their strength with time, if they are sealed. I accidentally broke an acid-containing container that was certainly active after 100 years of being sealed. My feet sure felt the burning for a week. DO NOT POUR THEM DOWN THE SINK. CONTACT YOUR LOCAL AUTHORITIES FOR ADVICE.

3) Poisons, again, usually don't loose their ability to kill, even with time.

4) Many chemical compounds used in medicines may alter with time to create a poisonous mixture.

5) Liniments often get stronger with time. I once burned the heck out of my arms while emptying an OLD bottle of Sloan's Liniment. Empty them down the sink with proper care.

***

Fortunately, most bottles are empty that we dig, but care must be taken in all cases.

 

[Maine Digger]

Mike, I had listed a collection of various Sloans on eBay, one of which was a cap bottle with 1/2 the contents intact and within the original box. A fellow from Canada wanted to purchase it and have it shipped....Well, I checked the contents, and then the shipping reg. for Canada and found it would have been illegal to ship due to the presence of Turpentine in the concoction; that and the precautions on the box about using near open flames.[:'(] I decided to sell it at a yard sale this weekend, and more than a few people with various ailments asked me if it would be ok to use![&:] I decided to take it off my display of bottles for sale. I wear gloves when digging and handling bottles, and if there's contents, I have gone as far as using my double filtered respirator. You're right, you just can't take chances with 100 year old who knows what![:-]

 

[Bluebelle]

Best advice is not to open bottles containing some unknown possibly toxic substance. I would definitely not pour it down the sink - that would involve opening it, mixing it with water might cause toxic fumes, and possibly harm the plastic pipes many of us have now. In some cities the Fire Dept. has periodic collections of old chemicals, the stuff a lot of folks have hanging around their garages. Even police depts often have to dispose of toxic chemicals (e.g., meth lab stuff) I suggest checking with your local police or fire dept about disposal.

 

[mescal]

gday all
charcoal and diatomaceous earth(white kitty litter) are 2 good absorbers of toxic liquids
triple bagged in good strong plastic bags and disposed of in approved landfill pits

i have moved to a farm (which started this bottle fetish)and am finding many poison bottles with ugly liquids....most i havent dared open yet as there are plenty of empties to work with yet-but that is how we deal with modern pesticide residue,so that is how i will treat the ugly liquids-better safe than sick

 

[cait_p]

Hi all! I run a hauling company, which is where *most* of my bottles come from. If you have a bottle with a possibly toxic substance in it, like the pesticide/insecticide paint mentioned earlier, call your county landfill. They can tell you what precautions to take, and more importantly, what conditions they will accept the stuff in. I know my local won't accept the kitty litter/ d. earth solution for most things. I take everything in on "hazmat" day!!!

Good luck!

Cait

 

[DiggerBryan]

I dug a black amber blob top beer with a cork still in it. I took it home and pulled the cork out and went to wash it out in our kitchen sink ( DUH!) and when I tipped it upside down it turns out it was filled with motor oil. [&o] Mom wasn't too happy about that one! By the way it wasn't black amber either. Darn it!

 

[Caretaker maine]

so that's why I get sick when I bottle dig, I usually dump it at the site I'm digging, another toxic waist dump, it something to think about, have to be more alert thanks for the topic

 

[Alexis143]

Yes, yes, yes, BE CAREFUL! My first ever bottle dig yielded a beautiful clear glass bottle with cork stopper and some sort of metal thing coming out of the top of the cork. Silly, inexperienced ol me, took the cork off and dumped the contents down the sink while I was washing off exteriors of all the bottles. YUCK! It was kerosene! Stuck in the bottle with the metal/cork stopper since probably the 1930's-40's, it was SOO noxious. I had a headache for the entire day and felt like..well, like crap.
I understand the urge to pop those tops and empty the bottles so they look pretty, but be careful! I have a bromo-seltzer with a sealed rusty yucky looking old top that is half full of liquid, as well as a beer/soda bottle (same thing, nasty top and half full), as well as a "bronchi-lyptus for coughs" bottle, same scenario. Not sure what I'm going to do with them yet, as I have tons of empties to deal with.

BE CAREFUL!!!

~*Alexis*~