[peachyyyy]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post but here goes.

I bought a perfume bottle that came with a small piece of gold elasticated thread around the neck, like this

I'm not sure what the gold material coating is made from, I think the one pictured is listed as nylon, though I can't say.

Unfortunately, the perfume spilled and leaked all over the box, probably months or even years ago, as it was very discoloured. I noticed that the gold thread has lost its coloring in some places, appearing bleached, and the gold coating on the thread appears to be melted (but not the white inner elastic itself) by the alcohol from the perfume. The contents of the perfume were also discolored and filled with sediment. I'm worried that the melted plastic dissolved in the alcohol could be toxic to inhale or have in the home. I was planning on keeping the glass bottle but now I'm unsure if handling the contents safe.

Is there any basis to this?

[Intanjir]

This seems about the same as if you had spilled acetone(nail polish remover) on a plastic that it happens to dissolve.
Any dissolved plastic wouldn't be able to become airborne simply by being dissolved. The molecules are much too long for that to ever happen.


I wouldn't forsee any particular hazards as long as you aren't planning on using the perfume.
Just pour it out into something that isn't plastic and give the bottle a few rinses before you put it in the dishwasher.
If you are feeling adventurous see what you can dissolve in the perfume.
Styrofoam might turn out fun if it works.
Or just let it evaporate outside away from people.
Or throw it out in a sealed container as I am sure people do all the time with old perfume.

[peachyyyy]

I see, that's interesting, so is it possible for plastic/plastic molecules to become airborne or release monomers or toxins like dioxins into the air without actually burning it first?

The ingredients of the perfume are:

Alcohol Dennat (SD Alcohol 39C), Limonene, Coumarin, Linalool, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane, BHT, Ethylhexyl Salicylate, Benzyl Alcohol, Benzyl Benzoate, Citral, Geraniol, Citronellol.

Are any of these toxic if mixed with plastic?

I don't know much about chemistry so I wanted to be extra safe and make sure I wasn't hurting anyone or the environment.

[peachyyyy]

Also, I got some of the contaminated perfume on my hands while trying to clean up the mess. Is washing my hands enough to get rid of the substance? Will it contaminate any food etc that I touch?

[Intanjir]

Washing your hands is all you needed to do.

Plastic polymers are too big to become airborne. Monomers aren't likely to be present except in trace quantities.
Dissolving does not break down the polymer into monomer. The polymers are floating intact in the solvent.
There is no particular reason to be concerned.

If you see any film on the interior that didn't wash out with water you might want to rinse once with acetone.
If you are still worried you can always just stick it in the oven and burn off anything that might have stuck around.
Just make sure you let it heat up and cool down slowly as it probably isn't pyrex =)

[peachyyyy]

I see, thank you very much for this info, I think the culprit might have been the butyl alcohol in the perfume as I looked up nylon's compatibility chart and it says butyl alcohol can melt nylon.