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Examples of toxic compounds left in final products for end users.

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Vesp:
As some may know, I am wanting to work even more towards more harm reduction discussion here at The Vespiary. I think an important discussion to help reduce harm on the manufacturing side is to understand what potentially dangerous and toxic by products or side reactions might end up in the final product and hurt a user.
An excellent and famous example of where MPTP was a side product from a Desmethylprodine synthesis which was made and distributed to users and gave them all Parkinson's disease. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18638988)

Perhaps if the manufacturer had better information about such a side product and the dangers of it, he could have avoided the mistake and fewer lives would be ruined because of the war on drugs.

We should discuss what other possible things could come about from all varieties of drugs. Anyone have examples and explanations on how to avoid toxic compounds getting into end products?
If we make such information available, we can all help reduce the harm of drugs and the drug war.

nintey:
great topic. Hope it gets some interest from folks smarter than me!

Vesp:
Yeah same here!
I really want to start collecting all the possible issues - even down to things such as "Don't use Phalaris as a DMT source, it has gramine which is toxic... etc"
followed by some recorded incidences, etc.

It seems like the harm reduction movement always focuses on users, but obviously a big part of this is also the manufacturers who obviously have no intentions of hurting their clients. More information on how to make drugs safely is better for everyone.

embezzler:
A noble endevour - this would have to be written based on synthetic route and by products.

That said I have never seen reliable reports of human toxicity from either safrole or gramine.

NeilPatrickHarris:

--- Quote from: embezzler on April 04, 2014, 03:06:11 PM ---A noble endevour - this would have to be written based on synthetic route and by products.

That said I have never seen reliable reports of human toxicity from either safrole or gramine.

--- End quote ---


same here, below is some information about safrole's carcinogenic metabolite in rats not being detected in humans:


--- Quote ---No evidence exists for sassafras tea or safrole ingestion causing cancer in humans.

In humans, the close amphetamine relative of safrole, MDMA has been shown to protect against cancer formation.[6]

The very closely related allylbenzene myristicin has also shown anti-cancer properties. A 65% inhibition of the tumor multiplicity in the lung was observed as the result of treatment of myristicin in rats.[5]

Animal in vitro tests determined safrole to act as a possibly weak carcinogen, but human tests have not shown this to be the case. Animal tests showing potential carcinogenicity were enough for it to be banned for use in food in the USA, despite no evidence of human carcinogenicity.

The main metabolite of safrole leading to possibly carcinogenicity in rats is 1-hydroxysafrole after SULT metabolism to its sulfate conjugate. However, this metabolite has not been detected in humans after the oral ingestion of safrole using the same tests that found it occurred in rats.[7]

Its believed that the banning of safrole, despite a total lack of evidence of it being carcinogenic in humans, and it's close relatives actually showing anti-cancer effects in vivo, was a move to prevent the sale of safrole because of its use in the manufacture of the illegal drug MDMA.
--- End quote ---
^ http://herbpedia.wikidot.com/safrole

to go into a little more detail about the claim of the article:


--- Quote ---Absorption, metabolism and excretion of safrole in the rat and man.
Benedetti MS, Malnoë A, Broillet AL.

Abstract
The metabolic disposition of different doses of [14C] safrole were studied in rat and man. In both species, small amounts of orally administered safrole were absorbed rapidly and then excreted almost entirely within 24 h in the urine. In the rat, when the dose was raised from 0.6 to 750 mg/kg, a marked decrease in the rate of elimination occurred as only 25% of the dose was excreted in the urine in 24 h. Furthermore, at the high dose level, plasma and tissue concentrations of both unchanged safrole and its metabolites remained elevated for 48 h probably indicating impairment of the degradation/excretion pathways. The main urinary metabolite in both species was 1,2-dihydroxy-4-allylbenzene which was excreted in a conjugated form. Small amounts of eugenol or its isomer 1-methoxy-2-hydroxy-4-allylbenzene were also detected in rat and man. 1'-Hydroxysafrole, a proximate carcinogen of safrole, and 3'-hydroxyisosafrole were detected as conjugates in the urine of the rat. However, in these investigations we were unable to demonstrate the presence of the latter metabolites in man.
PMID: 14422
--- End quote ---
^ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14422

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