35mm Film Cans For Pill Storage?

M

maury

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Sep 24, 2000
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I have used plastic cans that 35 mm film comes in for carrying vtamin pills when I travel for a day or two. I am curious if anyone would know if it is practical to store vitamins and/or non-perscription drugs in these containers for any extended legnth of time. Seems like they would be great for small kits if there wasen't a danger of the drugs interacting with the plastic......?

Just as a side note: this evening I found that you can cut these containers down to a shorter size and still have a pretty good seal. This seems to work best with Fuji brand film cans (Kodak has a molded outer lip). The Fuji cans originally have an inner lip to hold the lid, but the lid will fit fairly tight even if the can is trimmed down.

I have also tried trimming them down so that the lid of my Altoids box hold the top or the film can down tightly. Works very well. Hope this is clear.

Now, will it work for storing pills?
 
Maury, being in the forensic engineering field, I take a lot of pictures. I will sometimes use around 100 rolls of 35mm a week( tis the season to be burning), and have used these containers from everything to storing small parts to put medications in while traveling in the back country. FUJI containers are the best by far. Remember, you might want to clean out the containers before you put any medications in them. Who knows waht kind of chemicals are inthem from the film.

Dan Huff
 
someone told me once that it is not a good idea to put food or, I guess, pills, in film cans, as there is the possibility of there being chemical residue from the film.
I believe that film uses a silver based compound, maybe silver nitrate, and that while not deadly, it is not exactly good for you. (I think, I could very easily be wrong.)
 
I'm not a chemist either - clearly!- but the minute amounts of silver (halides, I think) should not be a problem if the cans are washed. My concern is about the possible interaction of the plastic and the drug/vitamin coumpounds either destroying the value of the pills or creating something altogether differant that would be harmful.
 
No clear container is good for keeping pills in it.Now if they are a dark colored or amber it's fine there will be no chemical breakdown.
k
 
Many years ago the backpacking industry warned against/ stopped reccommending the use of film tins for food/ medication storage. There seems to be health concerns about interaction between film and chemicals used in film manufactuer in reaction to human consumption. I guess that's what everyone else has been saying also. Used to be every backpack store would have a free basket of film cans for customers. There were even flip top salt and pepper lids for sale to use with film tins. I guess when Backpacker magazine[and others]made a big thing about not useing them for spices, pills, or any edibles, I quit using them assuming they know more about such stuff than I do.
 
Call me a cynic, but I can't help but wonder if the folks who make money selling containers to backpackers might be just a tad prejudiced on the subject?
 
http://www.a2zhobbies.com/Coins/Coin_Tubes.html

Shows coin collecting plastic tubes for dime storage. These might be even better than film canisters.

By the way, if you wash almost any container in soapy water, rinse with clean water, rinse with alcohol and then rinse with water again you will be able to remove almost any residue that is on the surface of the container. If a contaminant has permiated the material in question you may find contaminants leaching out over time and contaminating the contents. Considering that film is a dry material there should be little chance of permiation of the film canister.
 
I use film canisters for all sorts of things, but I've wondered about whether they were toxic. Bill Boyd, thanks for posting the link.

Another option- M&M Minis:

http://www.m-ms.com/us/about/products/minis.jsp

I use one for quarters- holds about 14 dollars' worth, if I remember right. And there's no question that they are safe for food, pills, etc.

A good excuse for buying M&Ms, too- like I need an excuse.
 
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