# Water Crystals: Are they safe?



## Jormungandr (Feb 14, 2010)

I have seen this topic on many fourms, but I wanted to hear everyone's opinon. Water crystals, are they safe?From what I have heard their is no proof of any sort of chemical build up in short lived inverts such as roaches.
However, could their be a second hand chemical build up in inverts that live for longer periods of time such as Ts? Of course the Ts are not consuming the water crystals directly but the Ts are eating the roaches which could have just ate/drank from the water crystals. My basic question is could a T living for about 30 years be afected by eating prey all of it's life that consumed water crystals?

I would be greatful if anyone out there who could do some reasearch or has any bakground knolage that portains to this subject could leave a responce.:worship::wall:

Thanks in advance,
Nick


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## koolkid98 (Feb 14, 2010)

They should be safe i use them and i see loads of others who have used them for over 40 years and have had nothing happen.


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## Jormungandr (Feb 15, 2010)

I have used them for quite a few years now myself with no ill affects, however there are always exceptions.


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## Mina (Feb 15, 2010)

I have been in the hobby for 5 years and have used water crystals to hydrate all of my feeders for my Ts, I've never seen any ill effects from them.


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## Moltar (Feb 18, 2010)

Never heard any accounts ever of them causing problems. Just don't pour any down your sink.


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## cacoseraph (Mar 5, 2010)

if they depolymerize or are not completely polymerized they are rather neurotoxic to most things with nerves as far as i remember


of course, i don't know what it takes to depoly them and i don't know if it is possible to get any that haven't been fully poly'ed




but... i reckon this is what is used in baby diapers and in the US at least it is hard to put anything too bad next to a baby's lower ports and stay in biz for any length of time


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## 8by8 (Mar 5, 2010)

Never had any bad effects using water crystals in my 14 years of feeding animals. I buy Flukers brand, and it says right on the package that it can be used for tarantulas (not just there prey). Never gave a T this, but Flukers isnt one to falsly advertise. Can say one way or another, just my experiance's.


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## cacoseraph (Mar 5, 2010)

all the "i haven't seen any problems" type of contributions really only mean it is probably less toxic than bug spray =P




it would be impossible for most hobbyists to track anything other than a obvious gives-all-your-bugs-the-screaming-twitches kind of thing



to really tell if this stuff has deleterious on the health, fecundity, etc of spiders would take a fairly well set up experiment.  i'd be happen to help design one.  so far no one has ever taken me up on my offers... ever.


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## Kirk (Mar 5, 2010)

cacoseraph said:


> if they depolymerize or are not completely polymerized they are rather neurotoxic to most things with nerves as far as i remember
> 
> of course, i don't know what it takes to depoly them and i don't know if it is possible to get any that haven't been fully poly'ed
> 
> but... i reckon this is what is used in baby diapers and in the US at least it is hard to put anything too bad next to a baby's lower ports and stay in biz for any length of time


Water crystals are made of polyacrylamide, which if I remember correctly isn't metabolized. It's only if it gets converted to acrylamide that there are potential neurologic and carcinogenic hazards. I've not heard if there are empirical studies that have documented such degradation.


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## skips (Mar 7, 2010)

There have been several studies that i've found.  For every chemical used, there is a toxicity report.  i just took the abstract since if you could have access to the article, you should be able to find it anyway.

Rev Environ Health. 1991 Oct-Dec;9(4):215-28.
Acrylamide and polyacrylamide: a review of production, use, environmental fate and neurotoxicity.

Smith EA, Oehme FW.

Comparative Toxicology Laboratories, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University, Manhattan 66506-5606.

Acrylamide is a highly water soluble vinyl monomer formed from the hydration of acrylonitrile. The major commercial use of acrylamide is the formation of polymers. In the environment acrylamide has a high mobility in soil, may travel great distances in ground-water, is biodegradable, and is not absorbed by sediments or affected by water treatment. It is absorbed by all routes of animal exposure. The main metabolite is N-acetyl-S-(3-amino-3-oxypropyl)-cysteine and is excreted predominantly in the urine. Acrylamide produces an ascending central/peripheral axonopathy in man and animals. The major histological findings are swelling of axons and/or decrease in number of large diameter axons. Acrylamide axonopathy is reversible with time, but full recovery depends upon the severity of the intoxication. *All reported cases of acrylamide toxicity have been attributed to handling the monomer. Polyacrylamide is non-toxic.* Specific clinical features of acrylamide intoxication are more conclusive than electrophysiological, histological or biochemical laboratory tests for diagnosis. Acrylamide can be detected by titration, colorimetry, high performance chromatography, gas chromatography and polarography in air, water, biological fluids, tissues and polyacrylamides. Present research on the effects of acrylamide focuses on developmental and reproductive effects, genotoxicity and carcinogenicity.



This study found that polyacrylamide implanted in breast tissue stayed localized and did not break down.  Though that says nothing about being metabolized.

Long-Term Effects of Polyacrylamide Hydrogel on Human Breast Tissue
Christensen, Lise H. M.D.; Breiting, Vibeke B. M.D.; Aasted, Annet M.D.; Jørgensen, Anna M.D.; Kebuladze, Ivan M.D.


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