Harm Reduction Sterilizing powered chemicals

[Abstergo]

Hi. Have a question that hopefully someone can give some input on.

Supposing you have a powdered substance, but there is a possibility that it might contain microbes/bacteria, what have you, that you don't want to ingest. If wanting to dose orally, what methods of sterilizing the chemical are there?

Off the top of my head, I think of maybe putting it into some high proof alcohol... but doesn't that run the risk of changing the chemical's properties?

I also thought of maybe putting it into some warm salty water, but who the hell wants to take a shot of warm salty water, and again, I think that might change the chemical's properties.

 

[Mr.Scagnattie]

Without knowing what chemical you are talking about... it's going to be hard to give you a good answer.

 

[Abstergo]

Let's say any of those RCs that tend to come in powdered form.

 

[romealone]

Honestly if u are just wondering about random bacteria that may have ended up in there than there isn't much cause for concern. You said you were dosing orally and your gut does a good job of getting rid of most of that.

If however u have reason to be concerned beyond that, you could always dissolve your powder in sterile water, micron filter and than dose orally.

 

[sekio]

there shouldn't be reason to expect that alkaloidal drug salts will be contaminated with microbes... do you often see mould growing on salt? unless you have reason to believe someone has intentionally contaminated it with bacteria spores you shouldn't bother if you are handling dry material.

if you had a water based solution contamination would be more likely. bacteria/microbes don't like to grow where there's no water and a lot of ionic pressure.

dissolving most drugs in either alcohol or salty water will not effect them chemically in any way. but if you are consuming the substances orally then your stomach acid should handle any bacteria anyway...

 

[Abstergo]

there shouldn't be reason to expect that alkaloidal drug salts will be contaminated with microbes... do you often see mould growing on salt? unless you have reason to believe someone has intentionally contaminated it with bacteria spores you shouldn't bother if you are handling dry material.

if you had a water based solution contamination would be more likely. bacteria/microbes don't like to grow where there's no water and a lot of ionic pressure.

dissolving most drugs in either alcohol or salty water will not effect them chemically in any way. but if you are consuming the substances orally then your stomach acid should handle any bacteria anyway...

Well I wasn't talking specifically about microbes, I'm talking about general germs and other contaminates. For example, you've never heard of someone getting a sore throat after either insufflation or an oral dose from something? That's what I'm trying to avoid. If you are saying that alcohol or salted water really shouldn't matter though, then I guess It's worth trying.

Also, could maybe pouring a small amount of boiling water over the dose and then letting it cool work?

 

[sekio]

you've never heard of someone getting a sore throat after either insufflation

It's because you're irritating your mucosa with a drug... And you're not going to get around that by "sterilising it". "Germs" are not the cause of your worries here.

If you wanted to ensure your stuff was sterile then use a micron filter and distilled water. Boiling for 10-15 mins then cooling will work too, unless you ahve a compound that isn't stable to boiling water. Or use high proof alcohol, or acetone, or do an acid/base extraction, or use gamma rays, or whatever.

 

[Abstergo]

UPDATE: Ok, so the powders can indeed be "dirty". 2 people developed soreness and pain in the throat while I developed a full on pharyngitis... ouch. Am on an azitrhomycin regimen until it clears up.

In the downtime, I looked in to some methods that seem annoying, but are worth doing to avoid this painful annoyance ever happening again. I'll list what I've found.

Honey and vinegar - Weigh out your dose and dump it over a small amount of honey, then pour in a little vinegar and mix it all up. The honey itself is naturally antibacterial and the vinegar is naturally astringent. Let it sit for a few seconds then pour in some water and take a shot.

Vodka - Not much to be said here. dump your dose into a shot of vodka. The alcohol *should* kill all the germs or bacteria in a few seconds.

Ginger - Either the tea or the extract, just make sure it is strong and natural. Ginger can kill viruses and has been used to treat food poisoning for centuries. It's even been reported that it can kill cancer cells better cancer drugs can. Dump your dose into a small amount of the tea and let it sit for a minute then drink it down. The ginger also gets rid of nausea on come-up.

Lemon Juice- Another antibacterial. Mix dose with full strength lemon juice. Let sit for a minute then water it down (if you need to) then drink.

Will report on these once they are tested.

 

[dextroflicks]

Dissolve in distilled water (if soluble in water) / filter / let water evaporate and let the substance dry to clean crystals
if the substance you are looking to remove impurities from is non soluble in water or ethanol, then try a non-polar solvent, like naptha or ether (they will evaporate faster)
and it would be helpful to add some clue as to what substance you are talking about .. there are many rcs out there, "white powder" is not very specific.

 

[brutus]

If you wanted to ensure your stuff was sterile then use a micron filter and distilled water. Boiling for 10-15 mins then cooling will work too, unless you ahve a compound that isn't stable to boiling water. Or use high proof alcohol, or acetone, or do an acid/base extraction, or use gamma rays, or whatever.

That's literally the only accurate answer you are going to receive.