You're probably buying "auto-grade" nitrous (or whatever they call it), and you're going to inhale a lot of shit like hydrogen sulfate and other toxic chemicals.
Thats why everyone is saying "medical grade" ... as in the kind used in medical settings.
If it doesn't say medical grade, it isn't medical grade.
Please get the clean kind.
Yes, auto-grade nitrous is what many people can get their hands on...
It's easy...at some auto stores you can just bring your tank in and fill it up for cheap. It sounds great, but it is NOT food-grade nitrous oxide.
It contains "stenching agents". Commonly the stenching agent used is sulfur dioxide, the reason it is added is to try and stop people inhaling it.... sulfur dioxide becomes acid when it meets with moisture (which your lung and throat linings are full of) It is considered toxic and a respiratory irritant, added to that it tastes bad.
I also read this from the link below (states that car grade nitrous often has hydrogen sulfide):
... hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is one of the most dangerous
neurtoxins there is. There have been reports of individuals going into a
sewer and not testing for H2S and being DOA after only one lung full. It
is incredibly nasty. It also causes olfactory overload with only one
breath. In other words, you get one smell then you can't smell it any more
so you don't realize that you are on your merry way to the grave. I would
never do the auto grade of nitrous but if that is the way someone wants
to go then bubble it through a lye (get it from the hardware store) and
water - about 1 heaping tablespoon per qt. of water.
I will admit, I have used car-grade nitrous out of tanks before, and gone on binges, but I will never do it again. I'm probably quite lucky that nothing terrible happened (all 5 of us had 'fished out'* at least once within a matter of 30 minutes however). I will only do food-grade nitrous.
Check this site out:
Obtaining Nitrous Oxide
It is a FAQ on the different kinds of nitrous available/purities, the tanks, the easiest ways to fill them, and other things that are interesting to read. It also includes a technique on how to PURIFY car-grade nitrous. Check it out.
It states that obtaining food/science/medical grade nitrous is kind of hard:
Success stories about obtaining nitrous fall into the following categories:
- Faking a medical/dental permit
- Faking chemical company letterhead
- Constructing catering letterhead
The latter is the best course of action. You need claim that you're a caterer and producing vast amounts of whipped cream, or that you're running an ice cream truck and that you're using the nitrous to chill the cooler. In both cases the deposit for a tank is ~300 $US, but the fill is only ~40 $US (prices circa 1994).
Moral: Don't do car-grade nitrous oxide. Find a medical supply place and obtain it that way (I am sure there are places on the internet that will sell filled tanks as well), or use whippits.
*
"Fishing out" is when there is so much N2O in your bloodstream that you literally pass out for a few seconds, and flop on the floor like a fish out of water. This can be dangerous (besides the obvious lack of oxygen when you're doing that much nitrous), as I have seen people hit their heads pretty bad from falling.
![:\](https://bluelight.org/xf/BL_Images/Orig_Emoji/wrygrin.gif "wry grin :\")
they have all sorts of numbers and letters on the side that only someone from the factory in which it was made could decifer. IME nitrous tanks are blue if that helps. I've gone through many tanks myself and have been around even more and they are always blue. Of course other tanks could be blue as well.
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