Toxicity of Humidifier Filter

[Tarantuland]

Hello, I have had trouble with the winter dryness this year in my home. I just purchased a large humidifier to help with this as well as with my herps. I was putting it together and see the following:

Wicks contain an antimicrobial preservative. Protection is limited to the product. Active Substances: Cellulose (9004-34-6) and Omadine Salts (13463-41-7). Wash hands and avoid touching eyes after handling wick.

the omadine salt is zinc pyrithione which is toxic to some aquatic life. However, I know that the bacteria and fungus can be detrimental as well. Does anyone know if this will be released into the air and if it will be harmful to the Ts and other stuff? Should I not worry about it? Should I not use it?

@HooahArmy @The Snark can you please help me

 

[viper69]

Hard to figure out how something works when provided TINY bit of info

 

[Tarantuland]

Hard to figure out how something works when provided TINY bit of info

For real. I’m leaning towards returning it and getting different one …better safe than sorry. I spent a few hours looking into this before I posted

 

[Gevo]

Interesting…I use an evaporative humidifier in my home and haven’t had any problems, but this isn’t something I even knew to be looking for.

According to the EPA, evaporative humidifiers can harbour a lot of bacteria (hence why the wicks would be treated) but are considered quite safe because they disperse little to no particulates into the air, unlike other types like ultrasonic humidifiers that throw particulates out: https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/use-and-care-home-humidifiers#:~:text=Note: Steam vaporizer and evaporative,disperse substantial amounts of minerals.

I’m not sure if this is a compound that would evaporate with the water or be left behind on the filter.

 

[HooahArmy]

Fully lactose tolerant, so bring on the cheese, it's... HooahArmy!
Good day ladies and gents! Thank you very much for the hail! The stuff we are looking at here is Omadine Salts, which in our ingredient list is kind of ambiguous. Omadine salts can be:
1. Sodium Omaidine (SO), which is a broad-spectrum antibacterial and fungicide.
Or
2. Zinc pyrithione (ZP), which is an antimicrobial pesticide.

Our SO for a start is often found in detergents and all sorts of household stuff to keep your home and body clean. It is considered safe unless ingested and very few folks have a problem with this one. Some companies even brand it as pet-safe, as long as nobody eats or rolls in the stuff.
ZP however is a different story. It is more often used in cosmetics like anti-acne washes, dandruff shampoo, anti-rash soaps, and etc. Studies online tell of its effectiveness for blemish-causing bacteria and hair funk, little is said about how it works when exposed to insects. However, on the other hand, some nations have banned ZP due to its toxicity for humans. It holds the potential to damage DNA and is a reproductive hazard, meaning that it isn't safe for pretty much anyone with gonads or folks having babies.

Odds are, if your omadine salts are the first compounds, you and your buddies might be fine. As for the second, this one's more of a risk, yet one for you and any other critters around you. Since we don't know which omadine salt we are dealing with, one can take a risk and give the humidifier a try since the salts are confined to the wicks and inside the machine. When the humidifier is running, keep an eye on yourself, family members, and critters; especially the critters. If you see any of your herps or Ts acting oddly with lethargy, twitching, overgrooming, stress, etc,halt the humidifier and observe to see if they get better. Or you may be lucky and have nothing happen!

 

[l4nsky]

Back when I was more active in fungiculture, I used both a modified evaporative wick style humidifier and a modified ultrasonic humidifier in my fruiting chambers where the mycelium blocks were housed to produce the fruiting bodies aka the mushrooms. The former humidifier was on more or less constantly for airflow and the latter humidifier was intermittent, being used as a humidity booster.

If I was able to grow fungi in the airstream of a consumer grade evaporative humidifier which likely had those same chemicals to inhibit fungal growth on the filter itself, I think your risk is nominal.

 

[Gevo]

If I was able to grow fungi in the airstream of a consumer grade evaporative humidifier which likely had those same chemicals to inhibit fungal growth on the filter itself, I think your risk is nominal.

Yeah, this isn't something I'm going to worry about either. I've been using my humidifier for years because where I live, the air is bone dry, and a humidifier is necessary for our comfort, and it's going almost all the time. No one in our home has suffered any ill effects from it, the tarantulas are just fine, and we still get fruit flies and gnats and stuff in our plants that aren't dropping dead from anything in the air, so I'm going to guess that the compound is either harmless or that it stays on the filter and isn't being sent up into the air in any significant quantity.

 

[Tarantuland]

FWIW I looked into the specs of several other wick filters and couldn’t find any that had been treated with this. I’m airing on the side of caution and not using it. Besides Ts I have frogs and arboreal snakes, which is why I wanted a humidifier in the first place

 

[l4nsky]

How much are wanting to invest lol? There are ultrasonic options out there with built in UV sterilizers, however you'd also need an R/O water filter (and some water storage) to reduce the amount of evaporative mineral deposits in the form of dust in the room.

 

[Tarantuland]

I mean I spent around 150 on the one I don’t really wanna go above that I just want to make my small home less dry

How much are wanting to invest lol? There are ultrasonic options out there with built in UV sterilizers, however you'd also need an R/O water filter (and some water storage) to reduce the amount of evaporative mineral deposits in the form of dust in the room.
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