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General Climbing Discussion

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Exposure of Chemicals to Climbing Gear 12-Jan-2004 At 2:17:51 PM M

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Both of these pesticides are fairly insect specific and they are unlikely to be very reactive with your climbing gear. Although you would need to ask a chemist (not a pharmacist) to be absolutely sure.

Of far more concern than the actual pestides are other ingrediants in the fumigation solution such as organic solvents. The pesticides need to be dissolved in something and it is probably not water. You should find out exactly what was in the the fumigation solution. I think some fumigation solutions do contain solvents which are reactive and may damage your rope etc.. The extent of potential damage would depend upon the nature of any solvents, the concentration of the solvent and and the amount of contact with your rope. If you can find out exactly what was in the solution post the info and I can try and ask some organic chemists that I know. I would guess that the fumigation solutions are not likely to be highly reactive otherwise they would damage household goods such as clothing and carpets which contain polymers similar to climbing gear. This is not to say there would not be any damage to a climbing rope.

Chemical damage to the hardware would amost certainly show as some sort of discolouration or corrosion. Damage to a rope however may be far more insidious and the first thing you know about it is that you fall and you dont stop until you hit the ground.

Sorry I cant be more helpfull and that i am a bit non commital. I am not suggesting you chuck out your rope but I cant really tell you that it will be fine. If the gear was mine I would do some more research before using it.

You could try contacting the actual manufacturer of the solution (not the company that did the fumigation) and ask them. Make sure you tell them that it is climbing gear and what it was made from ie polyester, nylon, dyneema.

good luck