naphta in my food - a warning

[Electro Monk]

So i have done two extractions in my kitchen following the instructions on the wiki.
i did use the freeze precipitate steps as instructed by cybs teks - but something went wrong for me.


mostly following Cybs' Hybrid ATB 'Salt' Tek, at first i used clingfilm to seal off my roasting dishes. however, i quickly noticed that naphtha drops had formed under the film, and that these had started to dissolve the film. knowing that the plasticizers in these films can act as pseudo hormones, i was worried unhealthy chemicals could end up in my product, and so removed the film.

as a result my freezer started to smell like naphtha. at first i was not realy worried and just ventilated it a bit. this however did not help. i soon started to notice food stored in that fridge had taken on a very discussing naphtha taste, even food that was only stored in that freezer over night.

in the end i had to throw away everything in that freezer (luckily not much) and completely thaw and clean the machine.


so, here is my advise: never use a container without a lid. do not use clingfilm neither.
aluminium foil should be fine tho.

 

[null24]

Are you sure it wasn't water condensing on the film? Naps likely would've dissolved it rapidly.

As for it affecting your food, well duh, volatility is the reason it can be used with evap teks but thanks for pointing it out.

Perhaps the wider lesson here to be disseminated, whether it relates to OP or not, is coming to a thorough understanding of the substances and processes one is working with when performing a TEK prior to doing so. It's a fundamental aspect of harm reduction.

 

[Simply_Me]

Naphtha formed on my baking dish container lid in the freezer and has begun to degrade it as well.

 

[Electro Monk]

Are you sure it wasn't water condensing on the film? Naps likely would've dissolved it rapidly.

i think you mean the clingfilm? yes it dissolved really fast indeed! ate holes in it it did. that's why i removed it.


but yes. its very strange it affects food like that. but a pizza after baking was absolutely uneatable. it tasted so strongly like naphtha. my theory is that it somehow binds with the food.

 

[null24]

I asked about the film because I've never seen naps condense in a freezer like that. It would never be recommended to use cling wrap were that normal. I'm not sure why that happened in your case and that might be a better question and mystery to solve.

...
but yes. its very strange it affects food like that. but a pizza after baking was absolutely uneatable. it tasted so strongly like naphtha. my theory is that it somehow binds with the food.

No, no it's not strange at all. I think you misunderstood my sarcasm. Volatility of naps is the reason many of us use it to evaporate away instead of freezing. It does so quickly and completely, leaving behind the goods. If it evaporates so easily, it is not outside of reason that after doing so it would accumulate on surfaces within a closed box that is a freezer. What my fail at humor was attempting to get across is that one should have known this simple fact about the material had they either (a) learned what naphtha is, or (b) just thought about it for a little bit. That is why it seems to me that the larger lesson here is better research and a fuller understanding of theory before engaging in practice since working with some of these materials can be unsafe without a good knowledge of their behavior and how they work in our processes.

 

[Electro Monk]

What my fail at humor was attempting to get across is that one should have known this simple fact about the material had they either (a) learned what naphtha is, or (b) just thought about it for a little bit.

of course you are right in that one should research the chemicals used. on the other hand, if the suggested extraction tek suggests a method, its not outside the realm of reason to assume that many will follow the tek assuming it is save to do so.

 

[leratiomyces]

I'm guessing you're using warm solvent to extract?
Once you separate your solvent from the extraction, allow it to sit in your baking dish or beaker or bowl, uncovered, until it returns to room temperature. Then cover it and place it in the freezer. You won't get any solvent condensing on your cover this way.
Hopefully I've understood your issue correctly?

 

[Electro Monk]

I'm guessing you're using warm solvent to extract?
Once you separate your solvent from the extraction, allow it to sit in your baking dish or beaker or bowl, uncovered, until it returns to room temperature. Then cover it and place it in the freezer. You won't get any solvent condensing on your cover this way.
Hopefully I've understood your issue correctly?

you understand correctly, but i am quite certain i did what you suggest.
maybe the ambient temperature was to high? we had almost 30°c the days i have been doing the extraction.
in any case. using clingfilm seems a bad idea to me as it gets dissolved by the naphtha. even if it can be avoided within certain temperature ranges and with certain precautions, it seems to be an unnecessary risk. Aluminium foil seems like a much better alternative to me.

 

[leratiomyces]

are you putting the container in the freezer immediately after you cover?
If you cover it with plastic film then allow it to sit around at room temp for a while, you are allowing the solvent vapour extra time to dissolve your plastic film.

Using aluminium foil is fine if you can figure a way to get an air tight seal with it, otherwise you're up for a stinky fridge once more.

If you are doing everything as suggested and still getting dissolved plastic film, then consider whether your naphtha is lower boiling than that used by others who aren't having your issue.

Hope I've been of some help. Hope you find the fix.

 

[Electro Monk]

boiling point, hm yes. my solvent indeed had a very low boiling point so this might have been what caused my problems.

but you think aluminium foil wont be tight enough? i think this might be true. still ill try it one time next time with tinfoil and make sure my freezer is empty. if it spoils it again, ill just evaporate it in the future. the saved 3 bucks for solvent are so not worth the trouble. plus, i always have some spill if i try to get the solvent from the roasting dish into a funnel, so its also quite wasteful not to evaporate.

when i think about it: if no naphtha evaporates because the boiling point is high enough, i do not need a cover. if naphtha evaporates, clingfilm is a bad idea. in either case clingfilm seems ill suited for the task.