From what I understand about Kolarscape sand (and many other products), they are not the same everywhere in the country because they are obtained from local sources. That is, HD in California is not going to buy sand quarried in New Jersey and ship it cross country. They buy the sand locally and have it packaged for them. So the HD by me in upstate NY has Kolarscape playsand that IS CALCITE while another HD somewhere else may have the exact same bag with the same SKU number and it is NOT CALCITE. So a picture of my sand with the SKU number may not really help because you may be able to find the exact same bag but it does not have to contain the same sand.
The technical definition of "sand" from a geologic standpoint is related to grain size not composition. The bags can say sand and be composed of any combination of minerals but still be "sand".
This is another reason for all the warning labels "Not for use in an aquarium", "Do not use for concrete, mortor, or structual purposes".
These are just generic labels because the sand can be almost any non-toxic substance. In California "Playsand" cannot have a silica content above some threshold without a warning label that it may contain silica because breating silica dust MAY lead to lung desease. So rather than test every quarry to see what the silica content is they just put the warning on everything. Whether it has silica in it or not.
I recently read an article about expiration dates on over the couter medications. The article said that the regulations state that the drug must have 90% (?) of its effectiveness by the expiration date. So the drug company takes some druglets it sit 2 years, tests it, and sees it still has 99% effectiveness. It passed the test so the compnay says 2 years shelf life because it meets the regulation. The drug may actually still be 90% effective 20 years later, but it was never tested after 20 years. They just label things to meet the requirements. But, i digress..
Dave
