Anyone here use "Polar Pure" water purification bottles

I see in an old thread that Nessmuk and peakbagger used to use these, maybe nobody else.

Anywho, the Feds are essentially shutting down the (literally) Mom and Pop business citing fears the iodine is being used to cook meth . Wouldn't that mean all iodine is suspect ?

I have used Polar Pure in the past and I still use [Tincture of] iodine for water treatment.

The jerks don't care what they destroy...

Doug

Chip said:

I see in an old thread that Nessmuk and peakbagger used to use these, maybe nobody else.

Anywho, the Feds are essentially shutting down the (literally) Mom and Pop business citing fears the iodine is being used to cook meth . Wouldn't that mean all iodine is suspect ?

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Wow, that's bad. Luckily I have accumulated several bottles. That should actually last out my lifetime of use. Who else uses it? The Boy Scouts do, on wilderness treks during the summer camping months. Although many will use their own filters, we teach trek leader guides (the National Camping School Trek Leader Voyageur training program) using Polar Pure and it is what most of the resident camps provide for 5-day wilderness treks during the camping season. Hundreds of scouts each year.

That link didn't work for me, but here's one that does: http://www.mercurynews.com/saratoga/ci_19385037

Chip said:

Anywho, the Feds are essentially shutting down the (literally) Mom and Pop business citing fears the iodine is being used to cook meth . Wouldn't that mean all iodine is suspect ?

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This is a bit misleading. The government isn't shutting it down simply because iodine can be used to make meth. It's being shut down because the owner refused to follow the federal regulations that were put in place to control the dissemination of iodine. I'm sure that all water purification systems that use iodine are affected by these regulations, but as long as the other companies follow the regulations, they should be ok.

DougPaul said:

The jerks don't care what they destroy...

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Well, in the defense of the government, the guy did pretty much blatantly ignore the federal regulations that govern the sale of iodine:

In 2007, federal regulations were passed strictly regulating the chemical. Wallace said the new rules mandated that he had to pay a $1,200 regulatory fee, get federal and state permits, keep track of exactly who was buying his product and report anyone suspicious.

Wallace ignored the fee. And if they wanted a list of his customers, he fumed, all they would get would be camping equipment store managers and wholesalers.

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For Wallace to comply, the state Department of Justice fingerprinted the couple and told Wallace he needed to show them such things as a solid security system for his product. Wallace sent a photograph of Buddy sitting on the front porch.

"These guys don't go for my humor," Wallace said. "Cops are the most humorless knotheads on the planet."

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He may not agree with the regulations, but if he so callously refuses to follow them, and even flaunts his refusal to follow them by sending pictures of his dog to prove he has "security," he really can't be all that surprised when the government shuts him down.

Hasn't there been research that shows that extended consumption of water treated with iodine is extremely unhealthy, anyways? The wilderness therapy program I used to work for actually instructed it's staff to switch to aquamira from iodine, supposedly due to the associated risks...

Edit: I found this study: http://ehp03.niehs.nih.gov/article/info:doi/10.1289/ehp.00108679

From the abstract:

The major health effect of concern with excess iodine ingestion is thyroid disorders, primarily hypothyroidism with or without iodine-induced goiter. A review of the human trials on the safety of iodine ingestion indicates that neither the maximum recommended dietary dose (2 mg/day) nor the maximum recommended duration of use (3 weeks) has a firm basis. Rather than a clear threshold response level or a linear and temporal dose-response relationship between iodine intake and thyroid function, there appears to be marked individual sensitivity, often resulting from unmasking of underlying thyroid disease. The use of iodine for water disinfection requires a risk-benefit decision based on iodine's benefit as a disinfectant and the changes it induces in thyroid physiology. By using appropriate disinfection techniques and monitoring thyroid function, most people can use iodine for water treatment over a prolonged period of time.

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Basically, it sounds like iodine doesn't effect everyone to the same extent. Seems like most people who use it for extended periods of time should be ok, but the study also suggests that they get their thyroid checked periodically just to be on the safe side...

It was a good product at the time and I used to use it. It had side effects some significant some not but nevertheless, better more effective treatments are available. I stopped using it when giardia became more prevalent along the AT as it isnt effective for giardia. It is less expensive then most of the other chemical treatments (although the folks who use chlorox will argue that point) which would be a selling point for most groups.

It definitely had a very noticable taste and when we used it with scouting groups, the scouts tended not to drink enough water as they didnt like the taste even with some flavoring added. I expect with older scouts on a high adventure trip they would get used to it but for newer scouts on a weekend trip, most would rather take their chances. We switched to MSR pump type filters that could be field cleaned as they didnt require as much planning.

The gastic side effects were a hassle. many folks get the "runs" and ascribe it to other causes like "camp food". It was quite noticable the lack of this issue on the first trip I did after switching to Aquamira.

I think I have an unopened bottle somewhere in storage, although I read somewhere that even in a sealed bottle it will eventually degrade.

peakbagger said:

I think I have an unopened bottle somewhere in storage, although I read somewhere that even in a sealed bottle it will eventually degrade.

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Are you sure you are talking about Polar Pure? It contains pure elemental iodine and nothing else, it will never degrade as long as the cap is on the bottle, previously opened or not. Your experience might be with another product in tablet form, Potable Aqua or some such. Those tiny bottles of tablets do have a shelf life, even if unopened.

Taste can be an issue with any chemical treatment, and young scouts might rebel. The taste doesn't really bother me. Older scouts use it all the time and accept the need to hydrate. For me I find the convenience and small size the major advantages of Polarpure. It does work on giardia if you follow the directions and plan for proper contact time.

If you think what you used tasted bad, you should try the product we had to use during the Yukon 1000. The chemical first has to settle out the thick river silt into a heavy goo in the bottom of a pail overnight as it does the chemical disinfectant treatment on the clarified water that remains. The stuff is meant for 3rd world countries. Even I found the taste horrible, but necessary to continue racing hydration.

Nessmuk said:

Are you sure you are talking about Polar Pure? It contains pure elemental iodine and nothing else, it will never degrade as long as the cap is on the bottle, previously opened or not.

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The iodine does not degrade, but it can evaporate if left open to the air. It can diffuse through plastic which is why Polar Pure uses a glass bottle.

Taste can be an issue with any chemical treatment, and young scouts might rebel. The taste doesn't really bother me.

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Many, myself included, use the taste to confirm an adequate concentration of iodine. 1ppm is usually undetectable, ~2ppm is difficult to taste, 4ppm (a typical concentration) is easy to taste, and 8ppm is rather obvious.

The taste can be removed by adding vitamin C or a flavoring containing vitamin C, but this will destroy the activity of the iodine so one must wait until the contact time has elapsed before adding it. I don't bother which, of course, maximizes the contact time.

Doug

DougPaul said:

The iodine does not degrade, but it can evaporate if left open to the air. It can diffuse through plastic which is why Polar Pure uses a glass bottle.

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It will also react with plastic, darken it, and make it brittle. Polar pure comes in a thick glass bottle with a thin outer plastic coating. The plastic helps, but doesn't completely prevent glass breakage if accidentally dropped on a hard concrete floor, something I learned the hard way.

War on drugs experiment #5,765,342

In the interest of science, we should check back in a couple of years to see how this effects both the availability of 'Polar Pure' and the availability of pure methamphetamine.

I have a hypothesis, but it isn't very hiking related.