Australia's Science Forum

Hello all,
it seems there is nothing that makes such beautiful esters as butyric acid. Has anyone some ideas how to store this horrible stuff?
At present I have it in the 25mL bottles it came in, inside a self-seal plastic bag, inside a glass jar, inside another glass jar, inside the corrosive cupboard, inside our ventilated chemical store AND we still can smell it as we pass the door!!#*!!#
~Robyn

Hi Robyn

This is an extract from some notes that I took at the 2006 Science SASS conference in St Marys:

Hexanoic
Heptanoic
Stearic
Octanoic
- dispose of smelly Butyric acid – it is not needed. The above acids make esters with fruity smells.

I still have a small amount of butyric acid stored in a similar fashion to what you described. I am too stingy to throw it away, but will be overjoyed when it's all gone. Haven't tried the above suggestions yet, but will when the happy day comes and the butyric is all gone.

Julie

Hi All,

I store Butanoic Acid (Butyric Acid) in the bottle it currently is in, then I have a secondary container that I use to house this. It offers greater protection from escaping odour.

Bottles that are emptied from used chemicals are great for this.

Cheers,

Robb.....

Has any one experience bad headache because of the Butyric acid.
The students spilled it and i had to clean the two labs up and there was a few classes doing for the past two weeks The headache does want to go away

Celia

Hi All,

Butanoic Acid can cause headaches as the odour is quite... shall we say... aromatic. It is an Organic Acid so I stronly suggest preventing inhallation of this material where possible. Organic Acids are quite Toxic in their own way as all Organic Acids cause severe health affects.

Just be careful when handling these types of acids...

Cheers,

Robb.....

I sincerely hope you have reported your headaches to management - you have been exposed to a Toxic substance in your workplace - make sure you have filled out all the appropriate forms... should the school have called Hazmat in?