Chlorine dioxide

Julie Hanks <jahanks [at] worldnet__att__net> writes

>I am trying to find anyone who has information on or experience with
>using chlorine dioxide to eradicate mold.

I believe at one time (perhaps still) it was commercially available
as Dowicide 50. However, before thinking too seriously about this
approach I would be concerned about the toxicity of the chemical.
Chlorine dioxide is moderately toxic by inhalation (the exposure
limit is 0.1 ppm and the IDLH is 10 ppm), it has experimental
reproductive effects and there is mutagenic. It is an eye irritant
and a powerful explosive sensitive to spark, impact, or rapid
heating. It is also a powerful oxidizer. Concentrations greater than
10% are explosive. Likewise, it is explosive when mixed with various
hydrocarbons, as well as sugar, and (I believe) organics such as
dust. It also reacts with water to form HCL fumes.

In other words, while I realize that it has been used in the past, I
really can't see any reason that we would want to use it these days.
Drying, control of RH, and manual cleaning using HEPA vacs still
seem to be the far superior means of dealing with mold. Best,

Michael Trinkley, Ph.D.
Director
Chicora Foundation, Inc.
PO Box 8664
Columbia, SC  29202
803-787-6910

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 12:78
                   Distributed: Friday, April 2, 1999
                       Message Id: cdl-12-78-002
                                  ***