There was a Jewery/Lapidary store in my area that went out of
business. I ended up with a bottle of 70% Nitric acid. I would like
to know what are the uses for Nitric acid. Also the way to neutralize
it when done using it.
Thanks in advance for all your help.
John
Grand Junction, CO.
There was a Jewery/Lapidary store in my area that went out of business. I ended up with a bottle of 70% Nitric acid. I would like to know what are the uses for Nitric acid. Also the way to neutralize it when done using it.
First be VERY CAREFUL with 70% Nitric, VERY dangerous if not
handled correctly. Eye protection, full face shield is even better,
and proper type, long sleeve rubber gloves and fantastic
ventilation/work outside, are all a must. I use it to make/react
different metals is it for metal nitrates for bronze patination.
Steel/iron for ferric nitrate, copper for copper nitrate, silver for
silver nitrate are the 3 main things I make with it and I do the
reactions outside in pyrex coffee post as all the reactions get HOT.
70% is very high conc. so may want to add some acid to some water to
reduce the concentration to get a better reaction and not have it get
so hot (it often boils). Be sure to add acid to water, NOT the
reverse, this is VERY important and holds true with ANY dilution of
any acid. Acid into Water
It can be used to make Aqua Regia or for etching. I am sure there are
other uses but these are the ones I know if.
To neutralize acids, there are a few things that can be used.
Dilution (massive amounts of water are needed and is not always the
best), lime or soda to neutralize. Also might contact the hazardous
materials of your local solid waste facility and see if they can
deal with it for you. I recommend if you contact any government
agency, do so via a public phone so you cannot be tracked down if you
get a fanatic on the other end of the line. This is just my
preference, so take it for what you feel it is worth.
JD
Baking Soda will neutralize Nitric BUT you will get a large reaction
with heat. You can burn yourself.
I had a Pharmacist tell me that the easiest way to neutralize acid
was simply by dilution. Take a small amount of acid say 50ml and add
it to water [or is it the other way around?]. Keep mixing with water
until you have the percentage down around 2 percent and then just
pour it out. Obviously, if you have a large amount of acid, this will
take a long time. 50ml of acid into a large 5 gallon bucket should
give you a weak dilution; I did the math once and this was about the
correct amount of water to do it. You can always add baking soda or
Na OH, which is I think Sodium Hydroxide. It doesn’t give off heat or
bubbles so it is not as fun!
Nitric is very strong stuff. It will give of bad harmful fumes. Work
with it outside or under very good ventilation. You can use it to
etch Sterling Silver. Work with about 10%. You can also etch Copper.
It eats Copper, and it will give off murky yellow-green gases that
will burn the crap out of your lungs. Very harmful and very
dangerous. I am sure that some chemist out there will respond to my
post. I hope they can give better insight as to how to use and be
safe.
I have a burn scar on my hand from using the stuff in high school
chemistry class; that was more years than I care to remember. The
acid just slowly burnt into my hand about a 1/4 " until I could see
the major blood vessel than runs from above your thumb to your fore
finger. Be careful
Dennis
I would gently suggest that if you need to ask what the uses for
nitric acid are, then you probably should give a bottle of 70% plenty
of space - even look into a good avenue for disposal. There is no
real use for 70% nitric in the jewelry shop. In general, nitric is
used for etching silver, brass and bronze, it’s used as a test for
those metals, and it’s the other ingredient in aqua regia. However,
70% nitric acid is essentially plutonium. It will take your finger
off, put out an eye, and any mistake in handling it can gas you
seriously. It is nasty, nasty stuff. For example, a potent etching
solution might be between 10-15 or 20% nitric. Don’t even open the
bottle without a plan…
http://science.csustan.edu/stkrm/info/ACIDS/acid-conc.htm
I googled Nitric Acid, uses, safety and got quite a few listings.
One or more of them will have the safety, use and disposal
Eileen Schneegas
WA state
I hate to tell you, but I was in a similar situation. I went to buy
an old goldsmith’s bench at a local jewelry store that was closing,
and they offered me a plating kit for free. I wasn’t really into
plating, but I thought I might as well take it. (There were no gold
anodes or anything, they had been smart enough to remove them.) When
I opened the box at home, I saw brown bottles with acid labels on
them, with broken plastic tops, and spills running down the sides
into the cardboard of the box. I said a few unrepeatable words,
sealed the box up and put it in a shed, and finally got rid of the
whole mess when there was a household hazardous waste event at the
local landfill. I had to do some fast talking to get them to take
it. The jewelry store heirs would never have been able to get rid of
this stuff for free. They were lucky that I was foolish enough to
take it off their hands. My moral for others is: be careful what you
take when there are chemicals involved. Some things are best left
alone. If you did not already have a desire or need for a substance,
think twice about hauling it home.
M’lou
High School Chemistry: Water to acid is WAR Always add the acid to the
water.
If you add water to acid the acid may splash up and damage you or
your surroundings.
Cheers
Karen in Toronto
(who is still deliriously excited!)
Here in Oregon, the High School chemistry teachers are begging for
supplies. Our schools are horribly underfunded. When my son was in
high school chem class, i contacted a local chemical supply house
and purchased a quantity of sulphuric acid, which I then delivered to
the janitors at the school with the prior knowledge of the chemistry
instructors. Even though 70 % Nitric is quite strong, it would still
be useful to the right teacher - if you want a safe disposal method,
call a few schools in your district and see if they can use it. You
might even find them amenable to a trade for a more useful
substance.
rexarino
Nitric acid can be used to etch active metals, like copper, silver,
iron, etc. During this process it produces a brownish/greenish gas,
nitrogen dioxide.
Nitric acid is extremely dangerous, as is nitrogen dioxide. Both are
extremely corrosive; inhaling the fumes of either can be fatal. You
can find an MSDS for nitric acid here:
http://www.bu.edu/es/labsafety/ESMSDSs/MSNitricAcid.html
and one for nitrogen dioxide here:
http://www.physchem.ox.ac.uk/MSDS/NI/nitrogen_dioxide.html
If you’ve had no experience using or handling it, I recommend you
get rid of it. Dilute it (about 10 litres of water per ml of acid;
it’ll get hot. ADD ACID TO WATER, never the other way around.), then
add baking soda until it stops reacting. Better yet, contact your
locat hazardous waste experts.
Danny Mitchell
(in unseasonally hot Melbourne, Australia!)
I had a Pharmacist tell me that the easiest way to neutralize acid was simply by dilution. Take a small amount of acid say 50ml and add it to water [or is it the other way around?].
Aaargh, never do it the other way round!!! Acid is ALWAYS added to
water.
Keep mixing with water until you have the percentage down around 2 percent and then just pour it out.
This is a very environment-unfriendly method of waste disposal,
especially in the case of nitric acid!
correct amount of water to do it. You can always add baking soda or Na OH, which is I think Sodium Hydroxide. It doesn't give off heat or bubbles so it is not as fun!
This is wrong! (mistyped, I think?) Adding sodium hydroxide to an
acid ALWAYS gives heat. And again, please, as long as you do not
exactly know what you are doing: do not follow these advices. For
example: Adding Sodium hydroxide to 70% Nitric will give LOTS of
heat and the solution will immediately start to boil in a major
eruption.
Nitric is very strong stuff. It will give of bad harmful fumes. Work with it outside or under very good ventilation. You can use it to etch Sterling Silver. Work with about 10%. You can also etch Copper. It eats Copper, and it will give off murky yellow-green gases that will burn the crap out of your lungs. Very harmful and very dangerous. I am sure that some chemist out there will respond to my post. I hope they can give better insight as to how to use and be safe.
Yes, I am a chemist and I can tell you how to use it safely: In a
fume cupboard in the lab. The gases (NO2, N2O4) are highly toxic.
I have a burn scar on my hand from using the stuff in high school chemistry class; that was more years than I care to remember. The acid just slowly burnt into my hand about a 1/4 " until I could see the major blood vessel than runs from above your thumb to your fore finger. Be careful
Hmmm… why did you not wash it down with LOTS of water?? If it
burns slowly into your skin, you did not wash away fast enough. Every
spill should be wshed off immediately for several minutes under
running water (Good advice: Never work with acids in a room without
water supply! Never forget to wear safety goggles, think what happens
if a drop f acid hits your eyes!)
Hope this prevents major injuries
Matthias
G’day.
I have had a lifelong experience with nitric acid, beginning when I
was a lab boy at a technical school chemistry dept at the age of 14.
Part of my job was to go round all the teaching labs and fill the
bottles on the shelves above the benches. We filled them from what we
called winchester quarts, which were around half a gallon capacity.
Nobody gave us two boys much in the way of instruction. As Mr Squeers
(Dickens) told his boys, “Winders- W I N D E R S. Nah go an’ clean’
em” Can you imagine 14 year-olds wielding great (to us) bottles of
violently agressive acids and alkalies? Hmmmm. Of course we spilt
some, sometimes on ourselves, so we ran that bit of ourselves hastily
under the nearest tap. Sometimes we dropped them (‘slipped out of me
’ands, Sir’) It was that time when I hit on the idea of pouring large
amounts of sodium bicarbonate powder over the mess, then later using
brush and shovel to sweep it all up safely. One certainly didn’t want
to pick bits of glass out of a puddle of fuming acid.
When we had finished our work in the labs, we had to go to the Prep
Room downstairs and accurately make up fresh quantities of reagents,
couple of gallons a time. Which had to be poured into the winchester.
Had to be a bit careful, especially with the strong acids and caustic
alkalies. ‘.880sg’ Ammonia could be nasty too. Often when diluting
sulphuric acid or caustic soda too quickly, it boiled and spurted!
Safety glasses? What were they? Rubber gloves? They made one’s grip
uncertain and often slippery; and we’d have had to buy them
ourselves… We did this when we weren’t serving students and staff
at the chemistry stores with all kinds of other nasties. And so on.
How much did I get for this? 15 shillings a week; 9 to 5 daily. 6 to
9.30 three evenings a week, 9 to 12.30 Saturdays. About four pence
(4c) an hour. Slave labour? Maybe. But I enjoyed it and learned an
awful lot of practical chemistry the hard way.
And I survived to write this stuff at 84. Any questions?
And also why don’t you all go now and update and check your first
aid kit and eye wash emergency items i.e. the special cup
and if you do not have a first aid kit GET ONE!
Teri
All,
I read our friend in Zealand’s letter about the experiences of a
lifetime in handling various noxious chemicals and I realized that
it is awfully easy to exaggerate the dangers of assuming risks. I too
have been using noxious substances nearly all my life and I have not
yet had the opportunity of realizing the dastardly consequences of
doing so. It occurs to me that this might be an excellent example of
how media have capitulated to insurance and litigionous interests so
that they can avoid any exposure to lawsuits…the American pastime!
When I went to college in my first two years I also operated a metal
plating shop in order to support my family. That plating shop
required that I utilize nitric acid as a brightner for brass and
copper, boiling caustic lye for grease and paint removal,
hydrochloric acid for rust removal, and numerous tanks of cyanide
plating solutions. I also used electrolytic solutions for stripping
of previously plated objects.
I guess what I am suggesting is that it maybe we are over-reacting
to lifes’ dangers. After all…how are we going to learn without
risk!!!
Ron Mills, Mills Gem Co. Los Osos, Ca.
thanks so much for getting the correct out there. I knew
that if I wrote it would get good advice. I am curious about one
thing, why isn’t it environmentally sound to simply dilute the acid
into oblivion as the pharmacist suggested. It is an organic compound
and will revert into the environment unlike so many contemporary
inorganic compounds that we find everyday at the grocers being sold
as household cleaners? Home garden centers are full of inorganic crap
as well, I would think that we should be making a big noise about all
of these convenient toxins, they will never go away, they are
destroying everything
As to the burn, I simply didn’t feel it. The solution was not really
very strong and it just took its time and burned. Doctors used to
use diluted acid to remove warts. I had a wart taken off my foot when
I was about 8 or 9 and the Doctor put Nitric acid on my toe for about
10 minutes, washed it off and 2 or 3 days later the wart just fell
off.
Thanks, Dennis
Love your story. My shop mate tell me similar stories about working
in Birmingham England as a young man. There electro-stripping was
done with cyanide by an old woman who also made the tea for everyone.
The cyanide was right next to the tea kettle! No one ever died, at
least while he worked there. I am not trying to diminish dangers, but
we are surrounded by them all the time.
Dennis
Ron,
I agree about the small risks are made out to be big risks via the
media, the government and all other sorts of “organizations”. There
are always risks, everyday life if just full of risks. The problem
here is our “all knowing government” and the many other "do gooders"
think that they know best and do not ALLOW anyone to have learning
experiences of risk taking. So we end up with lots of folks who who
don’t even know how to look at a situation and see if there IS a risk
and how to go about it to resolve the risk or at least minimize the
risk. Then when one gets hurt, “SOMEBODY (else)” has to be made
responsible because nobody should get hurt in this day and age.
Folks just are not willing and now able to take responsibility for
their own possibly dumb, actions, it has got to be somebody
else who is the responsible party. UGH!!! Folks are not put in
positions to learn about risk so few know what risk really involves.
Lastly, acid into water.
John Dach
I am curious about one thing, why isn't it environmentally sound to simply dilute the acid into oblivion as the pharmacist suggested. It is an organic compound and will revert into the environment unlike so many contemporary inorganic compounds that we find everyday at the grocers being sold as household cleaners? Home garden centers are full of inorganic crap as well, I would think that we should be making a big noise about all of these convenient toxins, they will never go away, they are destroying everything
Good question Dennis. I don’t know why this is said. I do know that
some years ago a 5 gallon container of sulfuric acid for batteries
leaked out on the ground. Yes the grass did turn brown but later that
year, your could not see that ANYTHING had happened in that area. We
pump out tons of acids from our cars every day, where does that
go. Nature if given the chance will clean up a lot of stuff, some
faster and better than others stuff. But we have to take care of this
part of nature (the ground and waterways for this discussion) and
keep them healthy so they can do their “thing”. We, in general, still
do not know how to do this or what is REALLY means but Ma Nature is
still trying to keep up with us humans. I could go on about this but
this is not a soils forum so I will let it stan as it is for now.
John Dach
It’s interesting to hear all the stories in this thread. I think the
issue to be made, though, as a few pointed out that there’s no need
to be paranoid, is training. Not necessarily formal training, but,
“This is how you do it.” I have no doubt that the one gentleman who
was in a plating shop had it explained to them that the acids and
the cyanides shall never meet, even if it was over coffee. Someone
sued a writer because he talked about acid, without putting the
perennial “A before W” warning, so they just went and poured water
into sulfuric acid. Yes, many of us use dangerous things. But if a
person needs to have the uses explained to them, they likely don’t
need to be there to begin with. I could tell many other stories - the
man I knew without a hand, from explosives, and such. I, too, am
pretty casual with things, but it’s the casualness of confidence and
knowlege, not foolhardiness.
Please, dear Orchidians, be aware that multiple variables can affect
whether someone can be exposed to toxins with impunity. Some people
also survived the Black Death. Some people never get the flu. Some
people smoke cigarettes until they’re 95.
There is much financial benefit to be gained by convincing people
that a certain substance/process causes no harm. There isn’t a lot to
be gained by insisting that it’s potentially dangerous. Have you
looked at the masks worn by hospital workers? The hospital lobby was
able to do a deal with OSHA, by convincing them that those flimsy
masks were enough, because there wasn’t any real danger. And, of
course, there are plenty of hospital workers who have never been
infected by anything. When some workers became infected with tb, it
wasn’t enough to get OSHA to cancel this sweetheart deal–it took
workers catching SARS to break it.
You get to decide which category you fit in. But, if you have
employees, I hope you assume that they might fit into the
"vulnerable" category, and that you act accordingly.
Lisa Orlando
Hello John,
I will try to explain (pardon me on my english, this is very
difficult for me living in Germany). First: The concentration of
your nitric acid is a lot higher than in fertlizers from the garden
centers or in household cleaners. Still, all the fertilizers that
are used in the garden add up and do the same that your nitric acid
does when you put it to the waste water: If the nitrate is not
cleaned up in a purification plant, it will go directly first to
rivers, seas and afterwards to the underground water. (BTW: Maybe, if
there is such a purification plant, it will get lots of problems if
people put amounts of chemistry to the waste water). Underground
water with high levels of nitrate are no more drinkable, this was a
few years ago a problem in some parts of germany. For example, I
remember that feeding small children (lets say 6 months old) with
this kind of poisoned water was dangerous.
And no, sulfuric acid does not do the same to your environment: It
is not a fertilizer. (Still I would not dump it in my kitchen sink).
All in all, I only wanted to say: Please do not dump chemistry in
your waste water.
But as this is not a soils forum, like you said, I will stop
discussing this, too 
Regards,
Matthias