Re:Amazon “suicide kits” have led to teen deaths
by bastawhiz on Sunday October 09, 2022 @02:32PM
(#33143955)
The purity of food grade sodium nitrate is 6% percent, and then you mix it with salt. The purity of what Amazon is selling is ~99%.
Purity here doesn't mean the rest is impurities, it means the percent of what you're buying is that compound. The rest is usually common salt, in this case.
The reason it's done like this is so mixing up a teaspoon and a tablespoon isn't a lethal difference.
The LD_lo of sodium nitrite is a bit over 5g for a 75kg person. You use an ounce of 6% sodium nitrite to cure about 25kg of meat. That's about 28g, or 1.7g of pure sodium nitrite. The equivalent lethal dose of what Amazon is selling is equal to ~three ounces of the stuff you use for food (enough for 75kg of meat), which ends up looking like a teaspoon.
Purity here doesn't mean the rest is impurities, it means the percent of what you're buying is that compound. The rest is usually common salt, in this case.
The reason it's done like this is so mixing up a teaspoon and a tablespoon isn't a lethal difference.
The LD_lo of sodium nitrite is a bit over 5g for a 75kg person. You use an ounce of 6% sodium nitrite to cure about 25kg of meat. That's about 28g, or 1.7g of pure sodium nitrite. The equivalent lethal dose of what Amazon is selling is equal to ~three ounces of the stuff you use for food (enough for 75kg of meat), which ends up looking like a teaspoon.