Australia's Science Forum

Hi all,
Does anyone know what is the safest place for storage of H2O2 (35%) ? Do you store it in the fridge?! As I know if we've got domestic fridge that might be dangerous due to spark of internal light or motor.
Thanks

I have heard it is not safe to store in fridge - but we do. I think the lower concentrations that we use -6% - is quite safe in there.
No fridge is sealed completely perfectly so any gas release would not build up in the fridge.

Perhaps the SDS will tell you.

I had the weaker solution in the fridge and the stronger one locked away in a cool spot in the chemstore.
But now it is all in the chemstore it gets really cold in there in winter

There is no flammability warning on the SDS, so I can't see an issue storing in the fridge. As others have said, they are not exactly airtight.

The rule is not to store flammables in the fridge, due to gas build up at the risk of ignition from a spark. Hydrogen peroxide is not a problem in the fridge and it apparently prolongs its shelf life. However, my concern would be the security of the fridge. At least in the chemical store it is locked away. You would have to assess the likelihood of someone gaining access to the fridge, ie are the doors to the prep room always locked? I know I've found my prep room doors left wide open when I've come back from being elsewhere, with no one around.

Thanks my friends

Ive had my H202 stored in the fridge, but just curious how long is the shelf life in the fridge? I think I have had mine in the fridge for about 2 years

Thank you xo

Has anyone bought the bulk bottle (2.5L) of H2O2? It's more economical to buy it that way, but not if I end up having to throw it out because it's turned back into water... It would also save having to do the EUD as frequently!

It does deteriorate quickly so depends what you are doing with it. We used to do an enzyme prac test for Bio which consumed a lot and it needed to be accurate(ish). They are not doing that prac anymore so I'm not expecting to ever use up even the 500mL bottle now. I will probably throw half of it out.

Storing it in the fridge does help to slow down decomposition.

Store in fridge and out of light. I would also minimise the head space in it. We buy the smaller bottle so we don't have it on the self for more than 3 months... we use a lot. It does drop very fast in concentration once opened.

We use H2O2 a lot, and I always buy the 2.5L container. We keep it in the fridge (technically not recommended unless it's a "spark-free" fridge, whatever that is). Have had no issues with decomposition yet. I would estimate sometimes we use stuff that's at least two years old.

We don't use a lot of it, so we buy the 500mL bottles of 30% and dilute as necessary for the weaker solutions.
The amount of waste we save doing it this way more than makes up for the higher $$$/litre.