Solid flakes in R-0010 bottle

[rimshaker]

Did a CH test yesterday and noticed my R-0010 bottle had small white flakey solids spinning around inside. They werent there when I first received the kit back in July last year.

Is this normal over time? Are the flakes from the solution or the plastic bottle? Fluid is still clear, not discolored. And the test results still appear normal. But the flakes are starting to prevent a consistent flow of drops due to being stuck near the tip. Kind of a hassle since I have to count 20 drops with this bottle, and every other drop gets "stuck."

 

[Guest]

R-0010 is basically a sodium hydroxide (lye) solution. If the bottle is not tightly capped it possible for carbon dioxide from the air to react with the solution causing sodium carbonate to form. I do not think this would have any major adverse affects since the purpose of this reagent is to raise the pH of the sample to above 10 so that the magnesium present will precipitate out so when you titrated with the EDTA (third reagent) you are only titrating the calcium in the sample.