Originally Posted by
cyccommute
Are you sure that tubing is PVC? From what I can find, it’s likely polyethylene or some copolymer. I wouldn’t be so quick to say that it can’t react with bleach because the exact composition isn’t that clear.
PPT or parts per thousand would be considered “meaningful” for many compounds. That only 0.1%. That’s easily detectable.
Finally, as a chemical student long ago, we were taught to choose compounds and methods that has the least possibility of risk. As a practicing chemist that was reinforced over nearly 40 years of work. If you there is no other substitute, of course you use the more toxic chemical but take extra precautions to avoid exposure. However, if the alternative is safer to use and just as effective, you use the alternative.
If the tube is a polyolefin instead of PVC then it would be even less reactive to bleach. PPT in my reference (should have been more clear) was to parts per trillion. Many reports of contamination reference vanishingly small concentration. Parts per thousand of reactive byproducts from bleach chemistry are simply not going to happen in this situation. As a chemical engineer with decades of experience in chemical research, there is zero risk of health issues from using bleach in this application.