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I store my used insulin needles in plastic bags before handing
them over at the doctors office for bio-hazard disposal.
I noticed that within a month the plastic, with a minute
amount of insulin fumes only, becomes brittle and
disintegrates in parts.
I wonder if this can be a whole new
field of industry and
controversy, after they discover it causes fish and bird
mutations, is abused somehow by terrorists and causes people
to speak irrationally.
Anyway: after touching my skin, it causes that location to
become "dry" and the skin to peel away about a week later.
I'm not sure these two effects are known or have have been
given any attention before.
Meta Cresol
http://www.chemical...ty_EN_CB7852747.htm
[bs0u0155, Jan 21 2016]
Phenol
http://www.chemical...iesCB4362168_EN.htm
look at reactivity profile [bs0u0155, Jan 21 2016]
No mention of solvent...
http://uspl.lilly.c...log/humalog.html#pi
[pashute, Jan 21 2016]
1981 research on solvents (bicarbonate content) for insulin
http://www.ncbi.nlm....gov/pubmed/7009285
[pashute, Jan 21 2016]
Humalog
http://www.rxlist.com/humalog-drug.htm
just under the structure [bs0u0155, Jan 22 2016]
Smells like band aids?
http://diabetes.san...ell-like-band-aids/
[bs0u0155, Jan 22 2016]
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Annotation:
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It's not the insulin. There's no mechanism I can think of that
would make insulin do anything other than sort of loosely
associate with plastic. Proteins don't really vaporize either.
Anyhow, common preservatives in injectable drugs such as
phenol and meta cresol both interact with plastics. See
links. |
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thanks. I wonder why my pharmacist who is a PhD in the topic
and obviously an expert in chemistry didn't know to tell me... |
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Wait so the distinctive smell of insulin is actually one of those
two? |
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Interestingly they never mention the contents of the solvent.
Only that they have versions of 100ul or 200ul (per ml of
solvent). |
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Insulin is a small protein, and won't smell of
anything. What does your injection smell of? |
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Time for an experiment!
1: bag with needles.
2: bag with drops of insulin.
3: bag with needle hubs only, steel clipped off (that is my bet)
4: bag of steel needles only. |
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In any case you should be keeping needles in something more durable than a bag. If you shove that bag in your pocket the needles will poke you! Maybe an old bean can or jelly jar. |
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Radiation can make plastics brittle & flaky fairly quickly. I'd
suggest checking your storage area for common radiation
hazards: old smoke detectors, radio-isotope thermal
generators, first or second generation fission warheads,
spent fuel rods, decommissioned reactors & submarine
parts... |
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It can also explain the skin conditions. Try getting really,
really angry and looking in the mirror. |
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