I was recently letting my OCD mind wander and thought about gypsum and the fact that many of us use it to alter our brewing water. Has anyone thought about the safety of ingesting gypsum (albeit small quantities)? It’s certainly not something you would ingest on purpose, inhale, touch, etc.
Food grade gypsum, like we use is good for us in the quantities we use it in. Its just a form of minerals our body needs. I wouldn’t start gnawing on drywall because other chemicals might be in it. I put 25# in my garden each year along with a bunch of other minerals to make my plants healthier and give me more nutrient dense food.
Oh, wasn’t aware there was a good grade gypsum!
If its just gypsum, its just calcium sulfate no matter what its in, its just that if its in another form you don’t know that it doesn’t have something else in it.
Yeah, it would be the stuff you buy from your LHBS or online brewing retailer. Use that and no worries.
Gotcha, well I just never saw it listed as “food grade”.
Like any powder or dust, it’s not good to inhale it. But compared to other chemicals used for cleaning, construction, etc, gypsum is relatively benign.
After a lengthy DIY home improvement to sand off some poorly applied venetian plaster in my living room, I’d wager I was exposed to more gypsum doing that than I ever will drinking beer.