Plateings
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Safety precautions for hydrazine hydrate
Hello everyone, I've come here to ask for advice on how to avoid hydrazine hydrate exposure. I've been planning to make sodium azide for a long time
and have figured out all the issues regarding the procedure and materials I'll use, but I'm worried about hydrazine hydrate. From my research, I
learned that anhydrous hydrazine is lethally toxic at 1 ppm (1 mg). Some articles I read stated that the hydrated form (100% concentration) has
toxicity levels close to the anhydrous form, but one article mentioned that 55% hydrazine hydrate, while still toxic, is diluted compared to 100%,
potentially causing irritation rather than permanent eye and skin damage with short-term exposure. Unfortunately, I don't have a well-ventilated room;
I do my syntheses outdoors. Do you think I should use a full-face mask with special filters for hydrazine? If anyone has experience with hydrazine
hydrate, I would greatly appreciate your advice.
"I would rather have questions that can't be answered than answers that can't be questioned." -Richard P. Feynman-
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Boffis
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@ Plateings; I think you are getting too paranoid about the substance. 98-100% Hydrazine hydrate is less hazardous to use than .880 ammonia or conc
HCl. It is toxic but it is also water soluble so easily flushed away if it comes in contact with your skin and it has a much lower vapour pressure
than ammonia solution. It is important that you wash it off quickly if it come in contact with the skin as it is caustic but there is no need to panic
it is much less agressive than phenol or conc sulphuric acid. The amounts you are likely to have/use it is a low risk compound; far less hazardous
than conc sulphuric acid, conc HCl or conc. ammonia. I do not use any face mask etc , only safety specs. My advice is to avoid situations that create
splashes or mists (from foaming liquids etc) but other than that it is not particularly hazardous unless you heat it in which case you should consider
ventilation.
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Plateings
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To be honest, I have no experience with hydrazine and hydrazine hydrate, the articles I've read about hydrazine hydrate says it's really toxic. And to
be honest, I really want to synthesize azides , so I'm a bit too worried about
hydrazine hydrate. Thank you very much for your help @Boffis, I think there's no more problem in my way to synthesize sodium azide now.
[Edited on 18-1-2025 by Plateings]
"I would rather have questions that can't be answered than answers that can't be questioned." -Richard P. Feynman-
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bnull
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Mood: Sneezing like there's no tomorrow. Stupid cat allergy.
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Since you're doing it outdoors, I suggest you keep a garden hose nearby so you can wash yourself in case something goes wrong.
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Plateings
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I have a small garden right next to my house where I often do my work. Thanks for the suggestion.
"I would rather have questions that can't be answered than answers that can't be questioned." -Richard P. Feynman-
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woelen
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I have hydrazine hydrate 100% (appr. 60% hydrazine by weight) and this stuff can be handled quite easily. It also is stable on storage. Mine is
several years old and is still as good as when I purchased it.
Hydrazine hydrate is quite toxic, but its vapor pressure is low and with normal handling, hardly any fumes are produced. Indeed, concentrated ammonia
(e.g. 28% NH3, which I have), is MUCH more pungent, albeit less toxic. The greatest risk of working with hydrazine hydrate too my opinion is not the
acute toxicity, but the systemic risks, introduced by frequent low level exposures. Hydrazine (and its salts) are carcinogens.
if you use hydrazine hydrate, then just use common sense. If you get the stuff on your skin, no need to panic. Just rinse it away with some water, do
not allow it to interact with your skin for minutes. If you work outside, then I see no reason to fear the toxicity of the stuff. A single whiff of it
does not give you cancer, in the same way as smoking a single cigarette does not give you cancer. Repeated exposure is a serious risk though, but if
you do your experiment once and you then do not work with hydrazine anymore, then there is no repeated exposure.
The resulting azide is much more toxic. Its toxicity is not much less than the toxicity of cyanide.
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Plateings
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Thank you very much for your recommendations. I had a lot of question marks in my head and now they are all gone. My only comfort regarding azides is
that they are solid (except for the need to prepare a solution to recrystallize sodium azide or lead azide) and i had already researched and noted the
necessary safety precautions for azides with references from reliable sources and prepeared my self, but I really lacked information and experience
about hydrazine hydrate. Thanks to you, I am now a little more informed about hydrazine and thank you everyone again for your help.
"I would rather have questions that can't be answered than answers that can't be questioned." -Richard P. Feynman-
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