Our Enigmatic Fluorescent Dye
So, Dr. Doig purchased this Universal A/C Fluorescent Dye that’s designed to be used in air conditioning or automotive systems to locate leaks. We looked up the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) on the manufacturer’s website. However, due to the proprietary ingredients, the MSDS actually provided very little information.
The dye is composed of two ingredients: a solute (the dye itself) and a solvent (which makes up the majority of the contents). After looking around the internet and finding several other MSDS for other fluorescent dyes, we determined that it is fairly likely that the dye is meant to be used with oil rather than water. On the manufacturer’s website, the product page states that it is “POE Ester based” and recommends use of “1/4 oz per 12 oz oil”. We will be testing the dye this Tuesday to confirm this and ensure that we can still use it for our tests. If not, we have already started looking into some other fluorescent dyes, both water-based and mineral oil-based.
In general the disposal recommendations have been vague: simply stating that local, state, federal, etc. regulations should be followed. After looking at the MSDS for similar products, the primary concern seems to be the concentration of color. Considering the amount of dye we will be using and the volume of water it will be diluted in, we concluded that the color concentration should not be a significant factor. Although the wastewater certainly won’t be safe for the drain, it should be sufficiently diluted for sewage disposal.