Boveda Liquid turns green?

[mdinius]

The Boveda looks like it burst inside, but I'm not 100% certain it wasn't punctured when I opened the packaging. Whatever it is, it wreaks! The cigars look fine though and don't smell like the box. Anyone have experience with something similar?

[Fuzz]

Looks like it is mold. I'd wipe down those cigars and keep them separate from the rest of your stash for a while.

[JohnS]

Yeah, separate the cigars from the box. I remember reading in a post (on this forum a year or two ago) that someone had a Boveda pack break on them so they let them dry out for a month (I think) and the cigars were great. Was that you @PapaDisco? I can't 100% recall.

[PigFish]

Not all aqueous salt solutions may be safe to ingest. If you are not going to return these cigars, I would contact Boveda and get their assurance the contents of their product is 'food safe.' Send them the picture, as it appears that their product has failed.

You might get the answer to dispose of the cigars... and if that is the case, I would not smoke them! I am curious as to what their answer is... if their product is food safe or not, so if you contact them, I would like to hear the answer.

Understanding some about true aqueous salts, they are different for different ErH stable environment that they support. The point is, some of this stuff might not be safe to eat and some might be. The only people to truly know the contents of their products appears to be Boveda and Boveda appears to be the only place to get an answer!

You should identify which pack exploded. Some of the higher rH packs are sodium chloride and ammonium chloride...

Some of Boveda pack ingredients include, but are not limited to:

Calcium chloride dihydrate

Magnesium chloride hexahydrate

Sodium formate

Sodium lactate

Potassium citrate monohydrate

Potassium acetate Anhydrous

Calcium chloride dihydrate

Hydroxyethylcellulose

... and their own literature claims "May be harmful if swallowed." I am not a chemist, nor someone in the know about 'salt safety' and some of these products may be no problem at all, but I am the wrong guy to ask.

The choice is yours...!

My 2 cents! -Piggy

[Fugu]

It is not the colour of the boveda solution. What obviously happened is that your pack leaked. The gilding of the filete, affected here, is done with simple brass powder. That corroded due to the action of water and likely salts. What you see is a form of malachite = copper rust. As long as no fluid entered the inside, no problem. I would lightly rinse that part (take gars out first...) and dry, in order to get rid of most of the salts that were soaked into the paper.

But a legitmate reason for replacement of course. Your decision. But if you ask me, looks like a non-issue, as long as nothing touched the cigars and they are still looking fine. No component used in Boveda is "poisonous". Still the solution may be corrosive.... 

[PigFish]

2 hours ago, Fugu said:

It is not the colour of the boveda solution. What obviously happened is that your pack leaked. The gilding of the filete, affected here, is done with simple brass powder. That corroded due to the action of water and likely salts. What you see is a form of malachite = copper rust. As long as no fluid entered the inside, no problem. I would lightly rinse that part (take gars out first...) and dry, in order to get rid of most of the salts that were soaked into the paper.

But a legitmate reason for replacement of course. Your decision. But if you ask me, looks like a non-issue, as long as nothing touched the cigars and they are still looking fine. No component used in Boveda is "poisonous". Still the solution may be corrosive.... 

... good call on the box closure, probably right! Some reaction with the box 'gold ink' as well, I would imagine. The question is still if it affected the cigars. Safety would be my first concern, then taste. Either way what you make of it is on you, they are now your cigars!

Good call Goo! -Piggy

[Smallclub]

5 hours ago, Fugu said:

I The gilding of the filete, affected here, is done with simple brass powder. That corroded due to the action of water and likely salts. What you see is a form of malachite = copper rust.

That's what I thought. This color can be seen on some vintage ERDM bands…

[shlomo]

Plume

[PapaDisco]

14 hours ago, JohnS said:

Yeah, separate the cigars from the box. I remember reading in a post (on this forum a year or two ago) that someone had a Boveda pack break on them so they let them dry out for a month (I think) and the cigars were great. Was that you @PapaDisco? I can't 100% recall.

Ha ha!  Yes that was me   It was a 10 pack wood box of Partagas P2's that accidentally had a 65% Boveda squished on top and left there for several weeks.  The Boveda gel soaked all the way through the top and bottom of the box, at about the bottom 1/3 of the cigars.  A couple of cigars split at the feet and all the sticks were damp to the touch.  

I was initially going to pitch the whole lot, but Partagas P2's . . .  they're worth thinking twice about.  So I checked up on the Bovedas and their food safe formula (used in the food industry after all).  So they aren't just made of petroleum distillates and weed killer    Now while you wouldn't want to just squeeze one out into your mouth and swallow, what with the high salt concentrations and all, the actual ingredients (again, absent the issue of concentration) are pretty benign and you'll probably find some of them baked into your mass produced snack food items.

So, reluctantly, I let the sticks dry out for a month (in a new box, but still in a 65%rH humidor) and lit one up; delicioso!   And the next one, and the one after that and all the sticks were just fantastic, even the ones with the split feet (that I clipped).  Made me actually consider squeezing Boveda onto all my stock!  

I don't recall my wood box turning green, so I'm going to guess what you're seeing might be part Boveda salts and part printing ink.  Perhaps the salts pull out those particular colors? 

[mdinius]

Fantastic information guys. I appreciate all the feedback.