Re: [Killietalk] Poly Filter

[LeeH920226 at aol_com]

Thinking a bit more about the Poly Filter problem, this occurred to me. As 
far as I know, the Poly Filter is a material that is an ion exchange resin in 
filter form. It adsorbs cations and organic materials. A patent search reveals 
Patent Number 5,626,761 to Poly Bio  Marine and a preceding patent US 4,076,619 
which among the claims repeatedly describes a variation of the following 
material:
"wherein said molecular absorption filter media comprises a material formed 
from a composition consisting of 48 to 62 weight percent water; 10 to 18 weight 
percent of an aqueous solution containing 70 weight percent of a polymer 
consisting essentially of 60-95 weight percent of at least one alkylacrylate or 
alkylmethacrylate and 5-40 weight percent acrylic acid; 14 to 22 weight percent 
of a forty percent by weight solids, prepolymer solution; 2.5 to 7.2 weight 
percent of a 3 percent by volume ammonia solution, and 3.5 to 7.2 weight percent 
of an epoxy resin"

    Now this type polymer is right up my experience alley and it will be 
capable of ion exchange via ammonium salts of acrylic acid which have reacted with 
epoxy groups to form materials comparable to some very active choline 
derivatives in nature. The patent only mentions these in use in the filtering 
material they are claiming.
    Now having said all that and accepting that I do not know the specifics 
of the composition, I believe any adsorbing material is capable of absorbing 
and desorbing anything that it is exposed to. It is an equilibrium condition and 
the Poly Filter can be saturated and then under different environment can 
release what it has adsorbed. Suppose, hypothetically, that the Poly Filter that 
Bill used had been exposed to household air which might contain insecticides, 
plasticizers, nicotine, caffeine, etc. You see where I am heading here. It is 
possible that at some point the Poly Filter adsorbed something which it then 
released to the water.
    I have used Poly Filter in several different applications and it has 
served me well, but I always have used it fresh out of a newly opened sealed 
package.

Lee Harper
Media, PA
USA