Recently after heating paraformaldehyde from campa chem vigorously with no observable decomposition, I added some sodium hydroxide to water
containing some sublimed portions of probable formaldehyde and witnessed a surge in temperature with the dissolution of the sublimate with the
emission of a pungent fishy like odor.Tsjerk - 11-9-2019 at 23:13
Are you sure you have paraformaldehyde and not hexamine? Herr Haber - 12-9-2019 at 04:10
As Tsjerk, I think you have hexamine.
Paraformaldehyde definitely doesnt smell of fish but hexamine does.
Try burning some. If it burns easily with a blue flame then you have hexamine.Boffis - 13-9-2019 at 07:12
Which country are you in? Paraformaldehyde is available as a fumigant in the UK from many farm stores and some local chemical suppliers.unionised - 13-9-2019 at 15:45
Paraformaldehyde is a polymer of formaldehyde.
One of the things they use to catalyse the polymerisation is methylamine.
That certainly smells of fish.6dthjd1 - 19-9-2019 at 18:51
@ Boffis
I am in the U.S.
@unionised How might methylamine get in there?
What uses might hexamine serve in RV toilet disinfectant? How might the manufacturers of this Campa-Chem product introduce hexamine in there?draculic acid69 - 19-9-2019 at 23:02
Isn't that RV toilet treatment stuff paraformaldehyde solution and blue dye.why would they use hexamine? does it do what paraformaldehyde does?Herr Haber - 20-9-2019 at 03:15
The manufacturers of paraformaldehyde add methylamine to formaldehyde to catalyse the polymerisation.
They don't bother to remove (all of) it.ave369 - 24-9-2019 at 14:41
The smell of formaldehyde is stinging and very distinctive. I believe it is not possible to confuse it with fish or something.Mabus - 16-10-2019 at 12:05
Yup. For some reason to me it feels like old furniture/bed with a tingling sensation. It feels familiar (I grow up surrounded by cheap communist stuff
so I assume there were lots of formaldehyde-based plastics present) yet unique at the same time.
