Strontium Nitrate

[moof]

Hello. After working with charcoal streamers for a while, I want to move up to colored stars. I've gotten a few answers from Swede about the proper procedures for handling Potassium Perchlorate and Strontium Carbonate and so far nothing seems too toxic or dangerous. Is it the same case for Strontium Nitrate? As far as I see it is less forgiving than the previously mentioned chemicals which have low health ratings and only require gloves to safely handle.

 

According to the MSDS http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/englishhtml/s6962.htm this stuff is pretty toxic. I found a second, less reputable, MSDS http://www.rocketmotorparts.com/pdfs/stron...itrate_msds.pdf which has a different health rating.

 

So what's the deal on this stuff? What safety procedures should I use when handling this?

 

Also, as a side question, what do you guys think of this easy comp: Lancaster Red

Strontium Nitrate 55

Magnesium 28

PVC 17

Red Gum +5 Dampen with water. "PillBox Star"

Edited April 26, 2009 by moof

[Yankie]

I never thought strontium nitrate was very toxic at all, though I could be wrong.

That star comp gives a very intense red colour. I would not be using water as it contains Mg, you could either use the PVC as the binder by using MEK or THC as the solvent, or substitute the PVC for 12 parlon and 5 red gum and then use acetone as the solvent, this will yeild very hard stars.

I would think this needs a fairly hot prime, something like BP+MgAl/Silicon should do the trick, use 5-8% red gum as the binder for the BP/MgAl and use acetone as the solvent. 5-8% may seem a fair bit but red gum is no where near as strong a binder as dextrin.

You could use water if the Mg is coated, but I would use 5% dextrin or gum arabic rather than red gum as it is much stronger and almost an equal fuel.

[50AE]

Yeah, just don't use water, everything else will be fine. This composition gives a very intense, blinding red. Good luck

[Seymour]

you could either use the PVC as the binder by using MEK or THC as the solvent

 

 

I personally agree with what Yankie said about swapping PVC with Parlon. unless you are using PVC cement (PVC in solution + die), you may have trouble getting solvents for it.

 

There is no need to treat the Strontium nitrate as any more toxic or dangerous than Potassium perchlorate, though you do need to be careful with Magnesium. As Yankie and 50AE have said not to add water. Magnesium reacts with many pyrotechnic chemicals(like Strontium nitrate), and this is mostly done in solution. If your Strontium nitrate is not dried, it may even contain enough water to react. Some of the reactions that can occur with Magnesium can generate enough heat to ignite the composition. While I am definitely not saying that you should not use Magnesium, I would be considering it the chemical that will require the most attention.

[Mumbles]

Just one more reason to go directly to the source, and not trust internet reproductions. Page 215 clearly states to bind with alcohol. Because they're pillbox stars (you do know what they are right?), it binds just fine. I happen to be of the belief that RG is perfectly fine for binding stars. I've done it several times, and ended up with nice hard stars and easily survived lift and burst.

[moof]

Thanks for the advise on the red star comp. I'll try to get a copy of Lancaster's book if I can. I don't know much about red gum since I always use dextrin, but can I just use regular rubbing alcohol to activate its binding properties?

 

But back to the original question, what kind of protection do I need when working with Strontium Nitrate? Gloves, respirator, chem suit?

[mike_au]

what kind of protection do I need when working with Strontium Nitrate? Gloves, respirator, chem suit?

 

If you read the actual write ups it explains why they consider it dangerous.

 

Inhalation:

Irritant to the nasal and respiratory passages due largely to the nitrate radical.

This applies to any nitrate so the same precautions as used for KNO3 should be suitable

 

Coughing, sneezing and some difficulty in breathing can occur in cases of exceptional dust inhalation.

Higher levels may cause a chemical pneumonia.

This applies to pretty much any fine powder, if there are significant amounts of it in the air, wear a dust mask. Doesn't matter if you are working with Sr(NO3)2 or self raising flour.

 

Ingestion:

Toxicity rating is low (2-3) because strontium salts are poorly absorbed from the digestive system. Large doses may, however, upset the osmotic balance and cause vomiting and diarrhea as well as nitrate irritation.

If you have to be told not to eat it then I don't think pyro is really your thing.

 

Skin Contact:

Corrosive. Symptoms of redness, pain, and severe burn can occur.

The "severe burn" bit surprised me but wearing gloves when handling oxidizer tends to be a good habit to get into anyway.

 

Eye Contact:

Corrosive. Contact can cause blurred vision, redness, pain and severe tissue burns.

If there are significant amounts in the air then goggles or a full face respirator sound like a good idea, if it is a coarse powder then it is less of an issue. Safety glasses are always good, just in case.

 

Chronic Exposure:

Repeated exposure has caused damage to heart muscle, lungs, liver, kidneys, and blood-forming organs; and effects the nervous system in animals. Repeated exposure causes strontium nitrate to accumulate in the body and effects can persist after exposure stops.

I think this applies more to people working in factories than it does to someone who makes up 100g of comp every few weeks. I wouldn't stress about it.

 

Aggravation of Pre-existing Conditions:

Persons with pre-existing skin disorders or eye problems or impaired liver or kidney function may be more susceptible to the effects of the substance. Persons on diets low in calcium may be at greater risk of absorbing more strontium nitrate.

I guess you would know if this bit applied to you.

 

To me, it doesn't look substantially worse than KNO3, a few basic precautions should be enough to keep you out of trouble.

[Mumbles]

Yes, it's worse than KNO3, but not as bad as barium nitrate. This surprised me a bit too, so I did some more reading into it. From what I could gather, it's not good for you, but it's going to cause instant death either. It actually has some health benefits. It seemed it really became an issue when your diet was low in calcium, and it got integrated into your nervous system and bones. This makes sense to me. There is a rather well known isotope of it, Sr-90. This was a big problem with the Chernobyl meltdown. A great deal of it got released into the atmosphere, and it can be detected in a certain proportion of the population around the area. Sr-90 naturally comprises a very small proportion of all strontium, but if you are low on calcium a physiologically active dose could be integrated.

[Swede]

For alcohol, I would definitely use denatured ethyl, which can be found in just about any serious hardware store, rather than rubbing alcohol, which normally has significant amounts of water in it. The lowest water that can be easily found is 91% isopropanol. I once found some 99% iso in a drug store, and should have bought more than I did, because I never saw it again.

 

It would be interesting to create a list of pyrotechnic chemicals from most to least toxic as a stand-alone chemical, but as you see here, it usually isn't the toxicity that is the main danger, it is the incompatibilities. I think Barium Nitrate would be near the top, second only to the arsenic compounds which aren't found much anymore.

 

While not strictly pyrotechnic, the lead nitrate and nickel nitrate were two of the scarier chemicals I had ever worked with, mainly because of the nature of the process; a 6 liter, agitated, open-topped vat.

 

In general, nitrates are more soluble than carbonates and present more of a hazard. The more soluble, the more dangerous. Barium sulphate can be consumed as a slurry in large quantities because it is 99.9999% insoluble in the human system.

 

MSDS sheets can be useful, but they are generally overblown, big-time, as if you've found a huge vat of the powder and have decided to dive in, nude. "Hey, a giant vat of barium nitrate! Let's go for a swim!" Dig deeper. Find LD50 numbers, and that will give you a better idea of just how nasty the particular chemical is.

 

I wear a respirator only when working with particularly fine powders that are prone to get airborne, or those that are really noxious, and really there aren't that many of those. Work carefully and keep the dust down.

[mike_au]

The lowest water that can be easily found is 91% isopropanol.

 

Check out your local electronics store. Around here I can get Helmar IsoPro (which they claim is 99.7% isopropyl alcohol) sold as video head/glass cleaner for $8/250ml. Not terrific, but not too expensive.

[Mumbles]

If you live in a cold climate look for "iso-heet". It's a gasline anti-freeze used for diesel engines. 99% with some rust inhibitors, but they are solid when the iso is distilled.

[Fluorescein]

I used this composition for cut stars but replaced PVC by parlon and made cut stars.

If small pieces of this stars are lit and thrown away they fly a bit, so I think it`s probably able for go-getters.

Here is a video from 2006 where I shot 2" cylindical shells filled with this stars and flash burst charge.

 

About the toxicity from strontium nitrate I`ve an amusing story.

In a newbie pyrotechnic board a guy told that he taste a small crystall of strontium nitrate.

As I asked him if he know that strontium salts were used in the past as ataractic, he were very suprised and told that he get red eyes and became sleepy and confused after this taste test

Edited April 30, 2009 by Fluorescein

[Swede]

That is funny. I find it amazing that in the past, "Taste" was considered an important attribute for compounds, and scientists would regularly taste their product. 99.99% of them would result in little or no effect, but a few of them... you get the dirt nap.