Povidone-iodine solution 10% - Water Purification?

No. Not the right stuff. Do not drink it in water. Aqua Mira is the stuff Wal-Mart sells in the hunting/outdoor section. Hope this helps.
 
I'm looking for iodine that I can mainly use for wound care, but also as a back-up back-up water purifier. I have 2-3 other options before I would ever use in a survival situation.

L
 
You want the 2% solution. Hard to find on the shelves of drug stores, but rite-aid ordered it in for me. @ $1 per ounce. Great stuff as a back-up and wound care but I don't think it works for cytosporidum (sp?). That being said I always have a bottle in the 1st aid kit.

Mike
 
Povidone-Iodine and Betadine are the same thing and are both 10% iodine. 4 drops per liter is the norm to use to purify water. Make sure whoever is going to drink it has no allergy to iodine have no active thyriod disease and that any women who drink it are not pregnant. For wound care cut Betadine to 2% by adding one part Betadine to 4 parts water. It has been used for over 100 years in this capacity for water purification. This should not be used for long term purposes, for less than 3 to 6 months is supposed to be OK.

Oh yeah. If you want to deactivate the iodine and get rid of the flavor, some ascorbic acid works perfectly. You might know it as Vitamin C. Don't apply the vitamin C until after one hour contact time to be safe.

KR
 
Povidone is a synthetic water soluble polymer commonly used to increase viscosity or as a dispersing and suspending agent.

Povidone heated in the presence of iodine and water yields povdone-iodine.

Povidone iodine (Betadine being one brand name for the product) is generally available as a 10% solution - meaning that there is roughly 10 grams of pure povidine-iodine in every 100 ml of water.

Coincidentally pure povidone-iodine is roughly 10% iodine by weight.

This means that a 10% solution of P-I is actually closer to a 1% solution of iodine.

<end chemistry lesson>

Otherwise, yes it is a decent disinfectant, and yes it can be used in place of iodine tincture for basic water purification. On the downside it tastes even worse than tinture of iodine.

P-I is generally less irritating that pure iodine, howver P-I can occasionally be a sensetizer - meaning that following some intial exposure it can cause an allergic type reactions upon later use. However this is reportedly exceedlingly rare. Substantially more rare than bad water, if you get my drift.

FYI: Iodine allergy (a pet peave of mine)

"Little evidence exists that elemental iodine or iodide is responsible for idiosyncratic contrast reactions or povidone-iodine dermatitis, and no evidence exists that it is involved in seafood allergy. The notion that iodine confers a specific cross-reactivity between these agents is unfounded. The term "iodine allergy" is therefore unfortunate, because it perpetuates muddled thinking and unsubstantiated beliefs. It should be abandoned and replaced by more neutral descriptive terms such as "contrast material sensitivity," "seafood intolerance," and "povidone-iodine dermatitis."

http://www.radiology.ucsf.edu/instruction/abdominal/ab_handbook/04-IodineAllergy.html
 
naked said:
So, 4 drops per liter, and let it sit for 30-60 minutes?
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That would be interesting to have someone confirm that since betadine is a very common disinfectant.
Just as your household bleach can be used to purify water instead of chlorine tablets: less expensive and in the end, if you got the concentration right it is exactly the same thing.
 
kr1 said:
Povidone-Iodine and Betadine are the same thing and are both 10% iodine. 4 drops per liter is the norm to use to purify water. Make sure whoever is going to drink it has no allergy to iodine have no active thyriod disease and that any women who drink it are not pregnant. For wound care cut Betadine to 2% by adding one part Betadine to 4 parts water. It has been used for over 100 years in this capacity for water purification. This should not be used for long term purposes, for less than 3 to 6 months is supposed to be OK.

Oh yeah. If you want to deactivate the iodine and get rid of the flavor, some ascorbic acid works perfectly. You might know it as Vitamin C. Don't apply the vitamin C until after one hour contact time to be safe.

KR
Click to expand...

I'm not sure how much comfirmation you need. Yes, 4 drops per liter with a contact time of 60 minutes. You can get away with less contact time depending on the condition and the temperature of the water and what it is you are trying to kill. You can search on the internet and I am sure you can find dozens of references to confirm this.

KR
EMT/ Wilderness EMT / Sar Tech III
 
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