Propylene Glycol Barrels

[beewench]

I got 4 barrels from a friend of mine that works at a winery. He said they were food grade but when I got them the labels say they contained Propylene Glycol. Ive looked online and see its used in personal care products and can sometimes be an additive in food, but I also see that its in coolants and cleaners. So, Im trying to figure out if these barrels would be okay for rainwater catchment for watering livestock and gardens...? anybody?

-=Sarah
www.beewench.blogspot.com

[Bearfootfarm]

Propylene Glycol is not toxic.

Just wash them well

http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/csem/egpg/p...ne_glycol.html

Propylene glycol is a Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) food additive that is widely used in

•food and tobacco products,
•pharmaceuticals, and
•cosmetics.
In certain medicines, cosmetics, and food products, propylene glycol acts as

•an emulsifying agent,
•industrial drying agent,
•surfactant, and
•solvent.

[beewench]

Yay!!! Thanks Bearfootfarm!! I was worried I would have to trash them, they were free!!

-=Sarah
www.beewench.blogspot.com

[Home Harvest]

Material Safety Data Sheet
http://www.sciencelab.com/xMSDS-Prop...glycol-9927239

Product description by a RV vendor
http://www.peterboroughrv.com/RV_Antifreeze.htm
http://www.insideyourrv.com/rv%20antifreeze.shtml

Two of the major uses of propylene glycol are as a safer alternative to ethylene glycol for coolant/antifreeze in cars & trucks, and for use as antifreeze in RV's & swimming pools. The drums should be perfectly safe for your intended application. Personally, I would thoroughly wash the drums with soap & water, then use them any way you want.

I hope that helps.

[mduncn52]

The juice for my electronic cigarette is made from PG. Same stuff in Asthma puffers

[foxtrapper]

Never assume that something which is safe for you will be safe for animals. Chocolate and dogs for example.

PG is not non-toxic, it is merely regarded as generally safe. IE, the assumption is you won't eat or drink much of it, and it you do, it probably won't do much of anything to you. PG is in fact toxic in large enough quantities.

Non the less, the plastic drums do not adsorb it, and with a triple rinse are quite clean.

[HeelSpur]

Originally Posted by foxtrapper

Chocolate and dogs for example.

I have a friend that feeds his dogs chocolate everyday. I told him it was no good for them and his responce was, "do my dogs look dead to you".
Actually his dogs are very healthy (on the outside), but one is a little chunky

[arabian knight]

Originally Posted by HeelSpur

I have a friend that feeds his dogs chocolate everyday. I told him it was no good for them and his response was, "do my dogs look dead to you".
Actually his dogs are very healthy (on the outside), but one is a little chunky

Most chocolate today is milk chocolate. Which is not the kind that is dangerous for dogs. Real Dark Chocolate with a lot of cacao powder in is. My friends have a vending company, and they take home old Oleo cookies and give them to their dogs, and they are not dead either.

[Jim-mi]

Filled with rain water any thing left will be well diluted.

[highlands]

Originally Posted by foxtrapper

Never assume that something which is safe for you will be safe for animals. Chocolate and dogs for example.

Myth. Our dogs love chocolate and have no problem with it. Yes, there might be some dogs allergic to chocolate, peanuts or other things just like there are some people but dogs in general are not allergic to chocolate. We've had lots of dogs and they all loved chocolate and had no ill reaction to it. Vets agree with me on this one.

Another myth is that pork is bad for dogs. It isn't. Ours devour it raw, cooked, what ever. The real issue is wormy meat - that could be of any type. So worm your dog and don't feed it wild bear (worst offender by statistics I've read).

Another myth is that chicken bones are bad for dogs. They aren't. Ours devour them raw, cooked, baked, boiled, what ever.

[foxtrapper]

I see a number of you have never bothered to do research on the subject!

The primary chemical of concern is theobromine. An constituent of the beloved cocoa bean, from which chocolate is made. Theobromine is in all chocolate products.

The lethal dose of theobromine for a canine is in the 100 to 200 mg per kg body weight.

So, how much theobromine is in chocolate?

That depends on what type of chocolate we're talking about. Baking chocolates and raw powders can contain upwards of 400+ mg/oz of theobromine. Candied chocolates are less than half that typically. Milk chocolate is less than 1/4th that amount.

So, if you break off a small piece of a milk chocolate bar and give it to your farm sized dog it will not die. That did not mean what you gave the dog wasn't lethal, just that the dose wasn't a lethal dose.

To put it in antifreeze terms, a teaspoon of antifreeze will not kill a mastiff. The dose isn't high enough for the substantial mass of a mastiff. That did not mean antifreeze is not lethal! That same dose is more than enough to kill a toy poodle.

[suitcase_sally]

Originally Posted by HeelSpur

I have a friend that feeds his dogs chocolate everyday. I told him it was no good for them and his responce was, "do my dogs look dead to you".
Actually his dogs are very healthy (on the outside), but one is a little chunky

My vet said that to be toxic, a dog would have to eat his weight in chocolate. Anything would be toxic at that rate.

[suitcase_sally]

Originally Posted by highlands

Another myth is that chicken bones are bad for dogs. They aren't. Ours devour them raw, cooked, baked, boiled, what ever.

The issue with chicken bones is that the leg and thigh bones splinter into shards. Smack one with a hammer and look at the results. It's like feeding your dog knife blades.

I would not use PG in my car. I have used it in my traps and toilet to winterise the cabin. One time I left a gallon bottle in the garage and it was frozen when I went to put it in the traps. The temp was about 15 below. I had also noticed that the PG in the toilet bowl was frozen when I came up to the cabin in the middle of winter. Apparently it doesn't expand enough when it freezes to crack the toilet trap or other traps so it probably wouldn't crack your engine block either. What it would do is prevent the coolant from circulating so the engine would overheat and probably damage itself.

[Wis Bang 2]

It is the solution of glycol and water that makes anti freeze work. 100% EG -or- PG will freeze around 5 degrees.

[Jennifer L.]

Originally Posted by suitcase_sally

My vet said that to be toxic, a dog would have to eat his weight in chocolate. Anything would be toxic at that rate.

Wow. What a way to go!

Seriously, I've heard that as well. You have to be feeding them pounds of chocolate to kill them. It attacks their heart muscle, if I recall correctly.

Jennifer

[CarolT]

The dog who died while I was at the vet's office ate a big bar of baking chocolate (the bitter super dark kind), wasn't his weight of chocolate...

If a dog is accustomed from the time he starts eating solid food to eating bones, it makes a difference in how they can handle them. I also saw a dog defecating rotten blood from eating a ham bone the owners had put in the trash... With a lot of care, it survived, but it was touch and go for a while. Chicken bones can splinter, just because it hasn't yet doesn't mean it never will, just learn what to do if it happens, if you insist on feeding them to a dog. I'm not saying feeding bones is wrong, just that things can and do go wrong.