# Does glass absorb chemicals? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 1, 2017, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-glass-absorb-chemicals/797697 "2017-10-01T02:49:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2017, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-glass-absorb-chemicals/797697/1 "2017-10-01T02:49:29Z")
Possibly a silly question, but it’s best not to be wrong. I have a 4 oz glass measuring tumbler meant for kitchen use that I’ve used for years to measure out weedkiller for a tank sprayer. I got rid of the sprayer, and I scrubbed out the tumbler to return to the kitchen. Since I’ve been using the thing to measure out poisons, before I possibly go ingesting them I wanted to confirm that chemicals can’t get absorbed into the glass and leach out over time, possibly causing issues for me. Yes, I know I can just chuck the thing and solve the whole problem, but hey, I already own one… ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2017, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-glass-absorb-chemicals/797697/2 "2017-10-01T03:20:01Z")
The poison is in the dose. Even if some of the poison had been adsorbed by the glass, there is no chance that it would be enough to hurt you. If it was something toxic enough that nanograms would be enough to hurt you, it would be something that you would need wear a full hazmat suit while using. ---
**Author:** ![anomalous1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e56c9b/32.png) [@anomalous1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anomalous1)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2017, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-glass-absorb-chemicals/797697/3 "2017-10-01T07:00:02Z")
**Darren Garrison** couldn’t have explained it any better. I got…nothing. Except to say that I’ve reused containers that I’ve stored some harsh chemicals in before. Even caustics. I’m still alive and healthy as can be. If it was an old metal container with pitting in it, then i’d likely think twice, but with glass, no worries. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2017, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-glass-absorb-chemicals/797697/4 "2017-10-01T12:12:51Z")
I’m sure it’s possible for some chemical or another to be absorbed into glass, but there are remarkably few. That’s why glass is so favored for laboratory use. If you want to be absolutely sure, fill it with some sort of oil and scrub it out, then fill it with soapwater and scrub it out again until you can’t feel any of the oil. Also note that most weedkillers aren’t particularly dangerous to humans or other animals in the first place. Insect-killers, you might need to worry about, since some (but not all) of those are toxic to animals in general, but animals and plants have very different physiologies. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2017, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-glass-absorb-chemicals/797697/5 "2017-10-01T14:29:27Z")
[Here’s](http://www.corrosion-doctors.org/Household/Glass.htm) a web page about how glass reacts. > [@](#): > > Only a few chemicals aggressively attack glass – hydrofluoric acid, concentrated phosphoric acid (when hot, or when it contains fluorides), hot concentrated alkali solutions and superheated water. Hydrofluoric acid is the most powerful of this group; it attacks any type of silicate glass. Other acids attack only slightly; the degree of attack can be measured in laboratory tests but such corrosion is rarely significant in service for acids other than hydrofluoric and phosphoric. ---
**Author:** ![Nansbread1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Nansbread1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nansbread1)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2017, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-glass-absorb-chemicals/797697/6 "2017-10-01T16:02:29Z")
You do get lead poisoning from crystal glass. So how did the lead get in that glass. It does stay in there for a while > **[Lead glass](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_glass)** > > Lead glass, commonly called crystal, is a variety of glass in which lead replaces the calcium content of a typical potash glass. Lead glass contains typically 18–40% (by mass) lead(II) oxide (PbO), while modern lead crystal, historically also known as flint glass due to the original silica source, contains a minimum of 24% PbO. Lead glass is often desirable for a variety of uses due to its clarity. In marketing terms it is often called crystal glass. > The term lead crystal is, technically, not... ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2017, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-glass-absorb-chemicals/797697/7 "2017-10-01T16:30:28Z")
> [@Nansbread1](#): > > You do get lead poisoning from crystal glass. So how did the lead get in that glass. It does stay in there for a while > > [Lead glass - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_glass) Lead crystal is made so that the lead is actually part of the glass (glass meaning the substance that the vessel is made of, rather than glass meaning the function of the vessel). As the glass wears from use and cleaning, the lead is released and can contaminate whatever is in the vessel. It’s completely different from a glass vessel being poisoned by past contents of the vessel. ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2017, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-glass-absorb-chemicals/797697/8 "2017-10-05T04:02:40Z")
Thanks everyone. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2017, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-glass-absorb-chemicals/797697/9 "2017-10-05T14:47:10Z")
The concern is with the nasty chemicals adhering to the glass. As noted, they generally won’t be absorbed. The chemicals are more resistant to washing if the glass has scratches that allow them to get nestled in. The scratches won’t necessarily be visible. Still, you should be fine with a few extra wash cycles with a detergent that handles organics/oils. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2017, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-glass-absorb-chemicals/797697/10 "2017-10-05T15:32:39Z")
Glass, especially pyrex, is highly resistant to attack (which would lead to chemicals getting into it), but not perfectly so. Here’s the Pyrex brochure: [http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/files.php?pid=82286&aid=2126](http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/files.php?pid=82286&aid=2126) The say it’s “highly resistant” to acids (except hot phosphoric acid and hydrofluoric acid), but only “reasonably resistant” to bases. “Alkaline solutions attack all glasses”, they say, but don’t put any numbers on it. In my experience, Pyrex labware is effectively inert, but if the surface is attacked, that means that that smooth intact surface is a tiny bit compromised, and it seems to me it could release any lingering substance back. There are papers about substances leaching _out_ of the glass itself (not stuff infusing into the glass and then later coming out). In addition to the aforementioned lead in crystalware, people have observed polonium and other such stuff present when the glass was made leaching out after years of the container containing acid. > **[Contamination problems from glass beaker inner surface in low level 210Po...](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10967-009-0355-5)** > > It was found that heating of diluted nitric or hydrochloric acids in many years stored glass beakers can result in mBq quantities of 210Po leached from beaker walls to the solution. In the case of freshly bought beakers acid leaching of 210Po was not...