The impurities have been identified, and it's t-butyl methyl ether. You can do your own research on it if you'd like, but the health effects of it at low doses are debated. It is on the one hand notorious for making tap water undrinkable, but my understanding is that this is due to the fact that it has an extremely strong odor, making drinking unpleasant, not because it is extremely dangerous. On the other hand it seems to be used in at least one surgical method to dissolve gallstones and injected directly into the body, so it's definitely not something that's going to kill you right away. I've been taking the compound with DMSO in the past 2 weeks with no noticeable ill effects.
However it is definitely something we should seek to minimize. The boiling point of t-butyl methyl ether is only 131.4°F (55.2°C). I'm trying to find out whether it is possible to heat up cerc501 to this temperature without compromising it's structure to just evaporate any impurities we have. Let me know if anyone finds suitable solutions. I'll be doing research and will keep you updated as I find out more.
HMM!
Unpleasant news - but not as bad as it could be - it's certainly not mercury or lead, at least. I've been reading up on it, and there does seem to be some slight evidence pointing towards carcinogenicity, but it's hard to tell if it has any tangible such effects, at low doses.
Still, I imagine if one wants to be safe, then ingest it with a healthy dose of anti-carcinogenic supplements, Vitamin C in high doses is one such compound, I believe.
Let us know if you find any data on the boiling point of cerc-501 - a fairly clever idea that, to potentially boil that MTBE sh*t away. Has the manufacturer replied to your enquiry into how the MTBE enters the process? Could we eliminate it if the synthesis process is altered for a future group buy?
Hey... I just got an idea! We might not have to boil or heat this AT ALL above room-temperature! Because MTBE actually appears to have fairly good solubility in water! And when you describe the characteristics of the majority of the mass in the synthesized compound, you mention how the solubility is god-awful! So if I'm reading this data correct...
42 g/L (20 °C)[1]
Link:
http://gestis-en.itr...default.htm$3.0
Then this stuff starts dissolving into water fairly quickly! That's why it's a problem when it leaks from storage tanks of gasoline - the MTBE is one of the first compounds to dissolve into ground water.
In theory... we would just have to put the compound in a container of water, perhaps for 2-3 days, in room-temperature, and then remove the liquid with a thin siphon, or a filter of some sort, and the CERC-501 will clump in the filter, while the dissolved MTBE will go down the drain! = )
Except... I'm not in favour of putting MTBE in the drain... so let the liquid go into another container, then have the water vaporize, and then throw that MTBE container in the hazardous materials section of your local recycling-centre.
Edited by Stinkorninjor, 07 June 2017 - 11:24 AM.