REAL testing kits - Not just color tests

[TLConscious]

Hello everybody,

We are a harm reduction non-profit organization that have developed a substance analysis kit that works significantly better than simple color tests sold around, while still being easy to use. It works through a method called `Thin Layer Chromatography`, and can separate even complex mixture of substances into the individual components, which is a big advantage over simple color tests that will only give the main reaction color.

Our kits are ready, we are currently in crowdfunding phase to gather money for purchases of bulk material to assemble the kits. You can check it out here: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/substance-analysis-kits-down-with-adulterants/x/4788503

You can check out a video of how it works in this link above

Basically with a certain donation (150e), you will get the full kit, or smaller donations get you the simple color tests which also come (amongst other things) included in the kit. So it`s sort of like pre-ordering, except it`s safer because the indiegogo website gives you full refund if we do not reach our established Goal and cannot make bulk purchases.

Feel free to ask any questions!!

PS: I have made an introduction post in the welcome subforum, asking if it was ok to post this, I only got welcomes but no specific comment on this, so please forgive me if this post is not allowed! We don`t want to be disruptive, just really think that this can help people out there! I promiss I wont be bumping this thread or spamming anywhere else on the forum, I will just answer questions that people ask!

Thank you very much!

 

[desertshore]

I don't want to be mean or anything, but I think that you're a bit misleading. I think you should state clearly that small contributions (<150 euros) are really donations to the project (not pre-orders) and that you're sending reagents ("just color tests" - not the TLC kit). Unless I did misunderstood the whole thing.
I also checked your website and you state "our kit can also tell when there are adulterants and in some cases even give information on relative quantities". I think you should be more clear here - I doubt that the home user (or even HR associations) has reference samples and experience to make judgments on something he's probably never done before.

This said, I like the basic idea!

 

[TLConscious]

Thank you for your post!

Small donations are sort of like pre-orders to the color tests and t-shirts, larger donations will be like pre-ordering the kits or any other of the perks available as shown in the crowdfunding link.

As for information on relative quantities, there are at least two scenarios we can think of: One is, lets say you want to know `which of these MDMAs is stronger, or which of these weed plants is stronger or has more CBD`. This can easily be answered by simply dissolving the samples in same amount of liquid and testing, and the column with the larger spot will be the one with most concentration. This can be very useful for some people even though they don`t have the absolute quantity, just general comparison relative to other samples (for example when selecting a weed clone that has significant CBD amount compared to other plants that might have nearly none, etc).

Also it depends how accurate you want to get. If you just want to have a rough idea, you can use a substance you have from previous use, and use that as a standard against the next times you get the same substance. For example you can have some MDMA which you know from previous experiences that is a `good` one, and then dilute that in different amounts to compare as a standard vs some new batch (so then you can say for example `ok this new batch is around half the strenght of the first one, or its around 75% as potent as the first one). Or let`s say someone has extracted DMT, and then use that as a standard when assaying different plants in their area when searching for a local dmt-containing plant. You could even get a rough idea of percentage of DMT in the plant, like a semi-quantification. Lastly, we consider the idea of sending plates already pre-loaded with any relevant LEGAL standard that might be of help. We also consider doing some research into finding legal substances that can act as a comparative standard for quantities in the case of some of the main substances of interest (as a hypothetical example, sending a plate loaded with, say, caffeine, diluted in different amounts, and using that dilution to compare versus for example MDMA or whatever, to do semi-quantification, in the case that they behave similarly in terms of size of spot in the plate). There are many ways to play around and customize with such methods, all that is necessary is feedback from potential kit users telling us what they would like to test and what they want more in the kit

Also we will send the user a very detailed instructions manual with a thorough `results` section, videos and will offer direct support to help interpreting results.

Does that make it a bit clearer? I will re-read our words and see if we can write it better, thank you

 

[Transform]

This sounds like it will be best for advanced users but having said that it sounds like a really awesome project which will be really excellent for those who are able to take advantage of its increased functionality, and very useful for RC users too.

I haven't actually ever used TLC with drugs but I think it might be a bit challenging to use quantitatively. What do you anticipate the final cost of a kit being?

 

[TLConscious]

I think indeed advanced users are the ones more likely to be interested in it at first sight, but the kit itself isn`t hard to use at all, so I think the not-so-advanced users could also benefit if they take the time to see how easy it is. Did you check the video in the crowdfunding page?

As for quantitative testing, I would rather call it `semi-quantitative`, or crude relative quantifying. But yeah, it`s possible, specially if you have something to compare to. If all you want is to have an idea of relative strenght of a substance compared to past batches to prevent overdose, thats quite easy. Or to see which plant has more of a certain alkaloid, even if you don`t know the exact number. The method itself is just comparing the size of the spot on the plate, so that neither requires some special technique, just your eyes :D

As for the costs, as offered in the crowdfunding page, 150 euros. That`s what we calculated it will cost more or less when we go commercial, depending if bulk suppliers will make a special price if we get a lot of donations/pre-orders. This is for the first 50 tests or so, later only plates and reagents need to be purchased as refills, and this will end up costing around 1e per extra test.

That being said, going commercial will only happen if we can gather the total crowdfunding goal, otherwise project will have to be abandoned, so please everybody do help us out with the refundable pre-orders/donations