How do I tell if the polymer is polyacrylate or polyacrylamide?
(if there is no label) If you cannot buy from a recommended online supplier, and are buying locally, look for these four clues to distinguish products: absorbency, price, “environmental friendly”, and a “safe for food crops” label. Polyacrylates (the one you want to avoid), report absorbency of 600 to 800 times its weight, cost around $12 Cdn per pound, and almost always have on the label “Environmentally friendly”. In contrast, polyacrylamides are labeled as absorbing 300 – 400 times its own weight, are priced at $6 – $8 Cdn per pound, and may have a note on its label that reads “Safe for Agriculture and Food Crops”. Only certain polyacrylamides (and very few polyacrylates) can be labeled as safe for food crops.
