Ok... it is obvious M.E.K isnt safe like water. It is an industrial chemical. However, from what I research, its main advantage as a solvent is its ability to rapidly evaporate leaving microscopic amounts of residue. From everything I read, M.E.K is rapidly excreted from your body and small amounts of the substance have virtually no negative health effects when ingested. Most of the health side effects listed in previous posts focus on M.E.K on your skin (chronically, such as if you handle it for work) or if you are breathing large amounts of its fumes. Here's something I read about M.E.K health effects:
(source: (
http://www.eco-usa.net/toxics/chemicals/2-butanone.shtml )
"Your body gets rid of 2-butanone in urine and in the air you breathe out. 2-butanone is not a chemical that stays in your body for very long; it will be gone by the next day."
"The main health effects that have been seen in humans who breathed higher concentrations of 2-butanone are mild irritation of the nose, throat, eyes, and skin."
"Serious health effects in animals have been seen only at very high concentrations of 2-butanone. These high concentrations are not expected in the usual use of 2-butanone or in the vicinity of hazardous waste sites."
I also read that the MAXIMUM residue left after evaporation is 5PPM (see below for source)-- 5 parts per million. This means the MOST residue that can be left over after evaporation is %0.0005 which is probably microscopic to the amount used to dissolve oxycodone. M.E.K is not a known carcinogen and the health complications its known to cause are generally irritation on the skin, eyes, or when inhaled.
--http://www.merck-chemicals.com/usa/omnisolv-2-butanone/EMD_CHEM-BX1673/p_ZEmb.s1OxkcAAAEncSl0Dd6u
This being said... use M.E.K at your own risk and proceed with caution, but from what I read--- it seems that using a few drops of M.E.K to dissolve your OC, and then fully evaporating it (
possibly consider applying some heat to your dissolving spoon to ensure full evaporation) will leave only miniscule trace amounts of M.E.K-- a thoroughly studied industrial solvent that doesnt have any real severe health side effects when ingested in this amount.
What do you guys think?