Sciencemadness Discussion Board

40% HNO3 and 60-81% H3PO4 in growers/hydroponics/gardeners eshops

Fery - 23-1-2021 at 07:50

While searching for information about 57-58% HNO3 I accidentally found that 40% HNO3 is sold under name Advanced Hydroponics of Holland pH down
https://www.growmarket.cz/p/advanced-hydroponics-ph-down-1-l...
some shops seems to require business ID to sell the acid as in the above link
others not to require it like here:
https://www.e-grow.cz/products/ah-down-na-rust-1l/
Personally I wouldn't buy it, but it could be helpful for someone who do not need extra purity (e.g. just to dissolve a little of copper to produce NOx, to etch surface of some metal etc).
Also H3PO4 81% sold in my country under name Vitalink Essentials pH down:
https://www.growmarket.cz/p/vitalink-essentials-ph-down-1-l-...
and H3PO4 60% here:
https://www.growmarket.cz/p/advanced-hydroponics-ph-down-500...
The 40% HNO3 has a green strip on its label with a text "grow" while 60% H3PO4 has red "bloom".
Some sellers do not deliver by currier and sell only personally like here:
https://www.growshop.cz/katalog/detail/ah-ph-minus-na-rust-5...
in the above link they notify that there is a limitation for selling to individuals, but do not specify it further, so maybe some sellers (especially newly started shops) will sell unaware until some control agency educates them exactly about the limits after fining them for breaking laws.
It seems to be produced in "Holland" so perhaps it could be available in the whole EU? Or is it a specialty and produced and sold only here in CZ?
It is recommended to dilute 5 ml of the acid in 100 l of watering so after the dilution it is buffered by natural content of Ca2+/Mg2+ bicarbonates in water, like here:
https://www.growshop-olomouc.cz/Advanced-Hydroponics-pH-minu...
https://www.specialnizahradnictvi.cz/kyselina-dusicna/

Fyndium - 23-1-2021 at 10:26

There are various products that may contain above treshold limits of precursors, because the producers are just not either aware of the limits, or they are sold by suppliers who don't know, and so on. For example, pickling acid for stainless steel contains a large amount of HNO3 with HF. Some shops don't sell it to privates, while some do.