Post by dave74 on Feb 11, 2023 18:37:14 GMT
I was thinking back on something that happened years ago. Back in the early days of dialysis, many dialysis units used formaldehyde to disinfect the water treatment system. In the 1970s, Continental Water, out of El Paso Texas, marketed a system to run iodine into the water distribution system and dialysis machines nightly. Iodine was much safer than formaldehyde and could dwell overnight. Concerns arose because dialysis machine manufacturers didn't know how their machines would hold up to nightly iodination, so they couldn't recommend it. There were also concerns as to how different RO membranes might react to iodine. Logically it seems that an RO membrane that couldn't tolerate chlorine, couldn't tolerate iodine. Iodination seemed more suited for a direct feed system where the RO was shut off at the end of the day. Iodination fell out of favor.
The dialysis unit where I worked continued to use iodine. We had a direct feed system. The medical director loved it. Our cultures came back good, and we didn't run the risks associated with formaldehyde. I ordered iodine crystals from Hach. One day a man walked into the tech lab, flashed a badge at me and said he was with the DEA. He said he was there to investigate our use of iodine crystals. He said iodine crystals could be used in the manufacture of meth, and our usage seemed high. At first I thought it was a practical joke and started to laugh. Then I realized the guy was very serious, and I got nervous. He made me calculate how much iodine was used during each disinfection, how frequently we disinfected and compared that to much iodine I had ordered. I was OK, but he advised me not to order more iodine crystals than we actually needed and to keep it in a secure area.
Eventually we built a new dialysis unit with indirect feed, and that was the end of the iodine.
I thought of this because a drug lab caused a house to blow up in San Francisco a few days ago.
The dialysis unit where I worked continued to use iodine. We had a direct feed system. The medical director loved it. Our cultures came back good, and we didn't run the risks associated with formaldehyde. I ordered iodine crystals from Hach. One day a man walked into the tech lab, flashed a badge at me and said he was with the DEA. He said he was there to investigate our use of iodine crystals. He said iodine crystals could be used in the manufacture of meth, and our usage seemed high. At first I thought it was a practical joke and started to laugh. Then I realized the guy was very serious, and I got nervous. He made me calculate how much iodine was used during each disinfection, how frequently we disinfected and compared that to much iodine I had ordered. I was OK, but he advised me not to order more iodine crystals than we actually needed and to keep it in a secure area.
Eventually we built a new dialysis unit with indirect feed, and that was the end of the iodine.
I thought of this because a drug lab caused a house to blow up in San Francisco a few days ago.