Reusing Isopropyl Alcohol bottle for Drinking Water?

[Art]

Hello,
I’m an electronics hobbyist, and fairly regularly buy isopropyl alcohol for cleaning with that, and to clean a vaporiser as well.
I recently found my electronics store started carrying 5 litre bottles. They are strong, and the screw top thread, in particular, is substantial,
so I thought these would make good water bottles for touring and camping if they are safe.

They are PET 2 HDPE, and this is the same material as my water bottle which was manufactured for purpose, and purchased from a camping store.

So it occurs to me the only matter left is whether or not the IPA is completely rinsed from the empty bottle so it can be used for drinking water?
Or does IPA leech into the HDPE and come out again into the water?
My gut says this is likely ok, but I’m not qualified at all to determine this, and wouldn’t bet my safety on a gut feeling.
I basically post a physics question here once a year, pertinent to a hobby. I’d be a 10-15 year long member here, but this time it might have been about 4 years between visits :D

 

[Vanadium 50]

I first thought was IPA = "India Pale Ale".

I don't know the answer. I would start by comparing safe levels with levels needed to smell it. If you need to smell it before it becomes dangerous, you have your answer, independent of the storage container properties.

Alternatively, you could switch to using ethanol. (If you can get it)

 

[BillTre]

Non-food grade plastics may have non-food grade chemical additives in them.

IPA mixes well with water. You could soak the bottle (interior) in water to try to remove any IPA soaked into the plastic.

 

[Vanadium 50]

Non-food grade plastics may have non-food grade chemical additives in them.

That's a very good point. What was already there may be worse than what you put in.

 

[berkeman]

I first thought was IPA = "India Pale Ale".

Yeah, I had to change the thread title to fix IPA --> Isopropyl Alcohol so that I didn't keep thinking of beer every time I saw the thread...

 

[Art]

Thanks for the replies.
The IPA bottle obviously had some appeal over the proper water bottle,
namely, a bung in the side of water bottles for installing taps or hoses that often leaks.

 

[berkeman]

What's a bung? Sounds like a bad thing so far...

 

[Art]

Another plug for an opening on the side, with it’s own gasket.
For camping you can attach a nylon tap to it, or a nozzle piece for a hose.
The bung goes in if you aren’t going to use the side opening at all.
The camping HDPE bottles I’m talking about are 10 or 20 litre.

 

[berkeman]

Another plug for an opening on the side, with it’s own gasket.
For camping you can attach a nylon tap to it, or a nozzle piece for a hose.
The bung goes in if you aren’t going to use the side opening at all.
The camping HDPE bottles I’m talking about are 10 or 20 litre.

Sorry, I'm a long-time camper, but I have no idea what this means. Can you link to some pictures from Google Images or give other links to what you are referring too? Thanks.

 

[berkeman]

Oh, and a link to your IPA bottle info would help a lot too. Thanks.

 

[Art]

Here, but the bottle I have is actually clear whether or not this pic looks like it
https://www.jaycar.com.au/isopropyl...os=2&queryId=14ec816f41a55988ff74927d144305a3

An example of the real water bottle I hate is here... not exact, but the bung part is the same:
https://www.supercheapauto.com.au/p/sca-sca-water-carry-can-20-litre-blue/340674.html

 

[Art]

I have actually contacted the manufacturer of the bottle, which was printed underneath,
so there’s more than one way to skin a cat :D

 

[russ_watters]

What's a bung? Sounds like a bad thing so far...

Another beer answer:

It's that plug. Guess where it goes...[/beavis]

 

[jrmichler]

A search for safety data sheet isopropyl alcohol finds some good information. The oral LD50 for rats is 5000 mg/kg of body weight. The LD50 is the dose at which 50% of the rats died. Given the known hardiness of rats, I expect that the lethal dose for humans would be a lot less. The bioaccumulative potential is (if I correctly read the SDS) is low, so regular exposure to trace amounts should not create problems.

I expect that the bottle manufacturer will tell you to never reuse the bottle for anything, and especially to never put drinking water in it.

 

[BillTre]

It's that plug. Guess where it goes...[/beavis]

In the bung hole.

 

[Tom.G]

From around the 16th century.

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/bunghole
BUNGHOLE — actually refers to the hole drilled into the side of the barrel, which is then sealed with a cork so you can eventually get your whisky or wine out.

 

[Borek]

A search for safety data sheet isopropyl alcohol finds some good information.

I went similar way: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK493181/

Looks like even the direct ingestion of the 70% stuff is far from being a death warrant.

 

[Vanadium 50]

Lots of people have ingested isopropanol and lived. Erstwhile First Lady hopeful Kitty Dukakis might be the most famous. ("If I were married to Michael Dukakis, I'd be drinking too...") An interesting fact I learned at the time is that unlike for methanol, the metabolic products are worse than the alcohol itself, so the treatment is different.

I have not run the numbers myself - can't even find them - but the related numbers suggest that you can smell it long before it becomes dangerous. However, @BillTre made a very good point: who knows what was in the plastic when you got it?

 

[JT Smith]

I wonder how much IPA you have inadvertently inhaled or ingested as part of your hobby. I also use the stuff for cleaning PCBs but I'm not as serious a hobbyist as it takes me a long time to go through a 500ml bottle. Five liters is a lifetime supply for me. Unfortunately five liters of the other kind of IPA doesn't take me nearly as long to go through.

My suggestion is the sensible one, feel free to ignore it: Buy dedicated water bottles.

 

[256bits]

I have actually contacted the manufacturer of the bottle, which was printed underneath,
so there’s more than one way to skin a cat :D

They make these containers by the millions.
I don't really see why any formulation would be different with any container and its use, except in extreme situations which I can't think of any.
Just make sure you re-label the re-used container.
You do not want to go on a camping trip and at the worst moment find out you brought the jug with the IPA.
Maybe spray paint it with a fashionable design.

I/we actually had a cylindrical water container with a large top fill screw top, and a bung hole with a tap on the bottom.

Some laundry detergent containers also have a tap on them.

In any event, if leaching is a problem, then you have a jug to hold water for washing rather than drinking.

 

[BillTre]

I don't really see why any formulation would be different with any container and its use, except in extreme situations which I can't think of any.

Here are some reasons:

• Assuming its made from a mold, the mold can be filled with any compatible plastic. This makes it easy to do.
• Plastic additives can be put into the plastic to increase UV resistance.
• Plastic additives can be added to modify the plastic's properties like flexibility or color.

 

[Art]

Replying to multiple people here :D

I wasn’t bothered as much by the IPA as what might be in the plastic. I have been exposed to it quite a bit.

I have been a serious electronics hobbyist, but vaporiser cleaning uses more IPA than my hobby for sure.

The word “bung”, in Australia, must be more common than wherever most of you are!

The company who makes the bottle may never reply!
and a reply from them at this point is probably the only thing that will cause me to use it for water.