How toxic are the API test kits?

[Impudence12]

I treat them like they would eat thru my shirt, and always go to the sink and rinse them very thoroughly. Just to satisfy my own curiosity, is this overkill? Would a gallon or so of water in a bucket be sufficient to dump and rinse in? Would a drop of one of them in the tank just kill everything? I'm not so lazy I can't walk 10 feet to the sink, but I like having some idea what chemicals I'm using and/or how toxic they are.

 

[Rbishop]

page 8 of the instruction booklet explains the possible concerns

 

[jm1212]

you wouldnt want to get it on your skin...some of the chemicals in the test kits are pretty nasty

 

[TropicalNorth]

I would still rinse in the sink, best not leave any possible residues in the bottles or put your hands in water with the chemicals in it. The warnings have to be put on the bottles because they contain certain chemicals, but those chemicals would be heavily diluted. If you get a drop on your hands (like I have a fair few times) it shouldn't cause any problems as long as you rinse it off with water straight away. The most important thing is not to get it near your eyes. If your skin becomes irritated you should probably see a doctor but that isn't likely to happen.

I did some chemistry at uni and got some chemicals on my skin, but as long as I rinsed it off nothing ever happened. Its fairly rare for very strong, pure acids etc, to be used in common chemical reactions/experiments. Most are heavily diluted.

 

[THE V]

http://aquariumpharm.com/Products/Product.aspx?ProductID=67

Everything hazardous in the test kit is listed in it's MSDS. I would definitely wear gloves and keep the chemicals away from the fishtank, other pets, or small children.

 

[Bobnova]

It's nasty stuff, you don't really want it anywhere near the fish tank.
Whether it would kill them all or not is questionable, but it certainly wouldn't do anybody any good.