Question about D-limonene and Polystyrene

[EverGreen]

I bought a seperatory funnel and the stop is made from polystyrene plasic, actually it says "polystop", but I assume that's short for polystyrene.

My question is... Is it ok for polystyrene stop to be exposed to the d-limo/hcl mix while mixing/shaking the two together?
The stop is only directly exposed to the d-limo when shaking for a salt, around 1 minute.

 

[biopsylo]

i have a feeling that 'polystop' is referring to polyethylene, and not polystyrene, as polystyrene is styrafoam!

polyethylene (#2 plastic) is very resilient, and will prob last a very long time even with d-limonene.

 

[EverGreen]

Yeah I made my assumption too soon, just did some research and found that PP which is ok for d-limo stands for Polypropylene. Probably a bunch of plastics that start with poly? Anyway, I guess I'm ok then It's definately not made from styrafoam.

 

[endlessness]

Research: "limonene compatibility".

limo+pp = not recommended

 

[EverGreen]

Oh right, ok... I didn't really research that before because I read this at 69ron's tek:

It's best to use glass or metal. If plastic is used, HDPE or PP is best

So I assumed that PP was safe to use. But I'll order a glass stop now, that way I know for sure I'm good. Thanks for pointing it out.

 

[Igel]

I doubt the limonene is capable of causing any real damage to the polypropylene. I've used the same disposable polyethylene (similar plastic) pipette with a potent mix of xylene and trimethylbenzenes without any problems. The only chance of a problem would be if you had only the limonene in the sep. funnel, heated, for a long period of time. Separatory funnels are used for separating polar and non-polar solvents anyway (non-polar solvents dissolve plactics), and the designer would have taken this into consideration.

Long story short, you will be fine.

 

[endlessness]

What do you consider "without any problem" ? Is it just because you didnt see any macroscopic changes ? Or is it because you didnt (yet?) feel any health damage? Do you have analytical machinery to analyze plastic and plasticizer in your product?

Just look it up on the internet, plenty of companies/industries have tested limonene with different materials. If its "not recommended" in basically ALL places where its been tested, it's for a reason!

Please dont give such advices here on the Nexus unless you have really strong data to back up, after all, its someone else's life and health you're putting in risk by saying this!