Iodine Forms/Uses

S

steelstump93

Joined
Aug 19, 2005
Messages
25
For those of you that use Iodine for water treatment and as a wound disenfectant what form do you use? Betadine is sold for wounds, Idophore is used to disinfect beer food containers, and then there are the tablets/crystals for decontaminating water. Can all of thes be used interchangeably for disinfecting wounds and decontaminting water? If not is there some other form that can be used for both? I like the idea of the crystals because they are compact and will last a long time.

I'd appreciate any insight.

Thanks

SS93
 
I have yet to use the Polar Pure. By far this is the most cost effective way to use iodine, the crystals last forever. This year a group of americans came down to visit me and brought me about 10 packages of Potable Aqua Plus so I'm in no rush to go buy iodine products.

When I run my course I teach them how to use 2% Tincture of iodine available in local pharmacies for about $.50 a bottle. Five drops per liter, double if needed, wait at least a half hour, or double if needed.

I do that mainly because part of what I do is to teach them how to use what is sold on the market here rather than give the impression that they need to buy imported kit.

There is an old product that recently made a comeback here that is very good. Clor-In 1 is sold in 30 pill blister packs. Each pill treats 1 liter of water with chlorine and it only costs about $1.50 per pack. I find people don't object to the taste as much as they do with iodine. The water treated with chlorine smells like a pool rather than a bandage. It also fits in my mini-kits better so I've been using that recently.

I start my guys out with the iodine drops and then later let them switch to the Clor-In 1. They always get mad at me for not showing them the Clor-In 1 first. Mac
 
Question, does liquid iodine require a special container. I use to carry medical iodine in smaller "mini nalgene type" plastic bottle, and now I've been told once that iodine had to be carried in a special plastic bottle or a glass bottle. Anyone has info about that?
 
iodine is pretty corosive and has leaked through metal tops on some of the iodine bottles ruining some psk's, there is a bottle with a teflon lid that will keep the iodine contained. the iodine is particularly nasty if it comes in contact with a ferro rod. it will disolve the rod fairly quickly. that is why i just keep some potable aqua tabs in my travel gear, and replace every 2 years.

alex
 
supposedly iodine treatment doesn't kill crypto and another nasty(only found in nepal). has anyone ever had any problems with it??

i keep mp1 tabs in my kit, but iodine is definately more economical.
 
I carry a bottle of iodine tabs but I relly hate the taste of the water afterwards so they get used maybe once a year. Of course now the entire supply is suspect so I just buy a new bottle after each use. Having battled giardiasis once I never hesitate to treat suspect water.

For first aid use I carry concentrated betadine in a small miltary first aid kit bottle. Along with that is a small syringe for irrigation. Add the betadine to water to form a dark tea and apply it as needed
 
Thanks for all the good information on water treatment. Those chlorine tablets sound like a good way to go.

The one thing no one has touched on is whether Iodine in all its forms can be used to sterilize/irriagate an open wound. For instance can I take the solution made from the polar crystals and apply it to a scraped up knee before applying a bandage? Is this safe to do? Is there enough Iodine in the solution to sterilize the wound? Is Iodine better or worse than H2O2 for treating wounds?

I was assuming one the the reasons that people carried Iodine is that it could serve two purposes.

SS93
 
pict said:
I find people don't object to the taste as much as they do with iodine. The water treated with chlorine smells like a pool rather than a bandage.
Click to expand...

Small tip: ad some vitamin C tablets to you chlorine purified water. It tastes so must better and some extra vitamins doesn’t hurt.
 
Solutions of Iodine and bleach both vary in concentration. You have to count drops according to what concentration you are actually using. I know with 2% tincture of iodine it is 5 drops per quart/liter and you can double that to 10 drops if the water is couldy or cold.

Pietje010,

The comerrcial Potable Aqua Plus comes with the white tablets that neutralize the iodine. The package says that they are 45mg of ascorbic acid (vit C). I had a local pharmacy here make up 100 capsules of 50 mg ascorbic acid for about $3.50. These work great for that purpose.

I teach my "victims" first how to treat with the 2% iodine, then progress them to the Potable Aqua Plus. After they have that down they get to use the Chlorine tabs. I ran out of the ascorbic acid capsules so I haven't been using them lately.

One problem with using iodine to treat water is cooking. Iodine reacts with starch turning it blue. It makes some funky lookin' oatmeal!

http://img215.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bpbluefood3bg.jpg
My daughter washing out her pan of oatmeal with iodine water. Mac
 
Good info at this site, make sure you read the part about chlorine and organic matter...

http://www.equipped.org/watrfood.htm#WaterPurification

Personally I like the MicroPur tabs. I carry 2% tincture of iodine for water purification back-up. The tincture of iodine is great because you can, if need be, treat a lot more than the any of the tabs in the same amount of space. In addition is serves dual purpose as a disinfectant.

Just a heads up if you use iodine, keep it in the original bottle or make sure you keep it out of direct light. And if you do use a flavoring, make sure you wait the 30 minutes for it to kill the nasties before mixing in or it may neutralize the effects.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top