Warning about toxic residues in Butane HoneyOil Extractions

[AndyAmine.]

Hi all,

I found this post by the originator of the Butane Honey Oil method the other day and thought I should post it here because we have had recent discussions about it. Apprently there is more toxins in those cans of Butane than we thought, I guess my post on the contaminations and adulterants of industrial grade solvents/reagents..

Dear friends,

as you can see I was the original poster of this oil thread in 1999, I want to warn all who now advocate it now to stop. First I am a phd on this subject. The marcapitans and hydrogen sulfide in the gas, and yes it is in all the cans made, is POISON. You will get brain leasions from them and it is not safe for this reason alone. Reason number two, over 42 folks have died from fire and explosion using this method, it is not safe and having read the FOOL who now offers to teach it to you, is a heartbeat away from the same fate. If you saw the pictures of these folks who died so far, it might make you think twice about this. Lungs burned out, bodies blown apart, houses blown up, even those who do it outside have managed to blow themselves apart as the gas often blows up in the pipe. The gas is heaver than air and creeps to low spots and will accumulate to blowup later on while you think you are having a good time. I implore the admin of this site to strike this info if you have a mind, heart and are a consious being. PLEASE take it down from your site. It isn't worth your life or anyones. Passing this info along might mean you killed someone by proxie. For Gods sake stop it, it is a bad death and none here know the long range effects of this method. The mercapitans will kill you in the long run and accumulate in your body and brain. All using it will pay in the end for the use and karma as well. I have seen lab reports from brain biopsies and it isn't pretty I assure you. Your lungs will suffer as well, stick to the herb alone or you may be next. These chemicals were not designed to be in your body. I hope you can listen to this plea and make a consious choice to live.

Part of the intense high is from the chems in the gas that are oil soluable, they stay in the oil, no way to remove them, think about it please, why is it so intense? answer try smoking some hydrogen sulfide and mercapitans, you will get the same intense feeling, its not the oil, its the chems. why not just sniff some glue, same results.

INDRA

[Evil Genius]

Thank you for bringing this to our attention AndyAmine. It sounds bad!

[Auxin]

Damn, I always wondered what odorant or lubricant residues made it into the product.

I was never an advocate of honey oil because of the explosion/inhalation hazards, this makes it far worse tho.

(One must ask... did this guy supply any case report references? I'm a bit leery of self proclaimed chemistry phds that both use obsolete terminology (mercaptan) And manage to repeatedly misspell it)

[teonanacatl]

(One must ask... did this guy supply any case report references? I'm a bit leery of self proclaimed chemistry phds that both use obsolete terminology (mercaptan) And manage to repeatedly misspell it)

true that. the pKa of the sulphhydryls is probably to low to allow separation via removal of the phenolic H's of the cannabinols aswell. i guess acetone extraction would be better, could separate from other stuff by partition.

is there any other way to remove the thiols?

[Rev]

whatever... :saufen2:

I hardly think that many people get to overabuse this stuff

shellite works just as well and is muy cheaper

[BlackDragon]

Hope no one has overindulged if thats the case..

Seriously just stick to the icewater "bubble or Jellyhash" method... Nothing beats it and its far superior to ANY oil/honey oil.

No loss of any volitiles or flavors. Water and Ice peoples.. easy as that(or so my friend in holland tells me )

[transDiMenTional]

drool ...........

[Torsten]

Erowid recently asked for comment about this letter as they thought it dubious. Below is my reply:

Oh deary me, what a load of crap!

About the only thing correct in this complaint is that the process is dangerous. Butane accidents happen all the time, but usually because people fill up their lighters - usually while smoking. It's evolution at its finest.

Butane needs a spark or something really hot to ignite, so anyone with a bit of brains can do butane extractions quite safely. But yeah, it's no toy for numbnuts.

Hydrogen sulfide is often added to butane and propane gas so that we can smell gas leaks better. It is highly toxic, but not in such tiny quantities. It is also a gas, which means that when you evaporate the butane extraction there will be none left - well, at least no more than what comes off a silver spoon after eating a boiled egg. As long as butane extractions are done outdoors there is no need to worry about H2S. In enclosed spaces it might be a good idea to get some ventialtion happening quickly - not because of the H2S, but rather because of the butane itself.

Mercaptans are sometimes added to butane for the same reason as H2S. They are simply organic sulphur compounds. The second smallest of these is ethanethiol, which is the smelliest gas know to science - hence it is used in this application. It is toxic, but from what I gather less so than H2S. Also, it's intense smell would prevent anyone from using any material that had any residue in it. It boils at about 35 degC and hence leaving your hash oil sitting in an open dish for a little while (few hours) will get these funky compounds to evaporate (if they are even present).

If this guy got a 'phd on this subject' then I wonder what 'this subject' really is. It certainly isn't chemistry cos he can't spell his compounds right (and doesn't even misspell them consistently) and really does not know anything about the physical behaviour and properties of hydrogen sulfide and the thiols (mercaptans). He also does not appear to realise that both thiols and H2S are already in our bodies and hence adding tiny amounts won't be all that detrimental. Anyone who ever smelled their own fart is facing a similar danger :-P

Mercaptans and H2S are both highly flammable, so burning your extracted oil (ie smoking it) will oxidise these to CO2, water and SO2. And yes, the latter isn't good for you, but again, you would ingest more of it in your glass of red wine than from the hash oil.

Please ignore this idiot. However, as stated before, there cannnot be enough safety warnings about this process, especially since erowid is available to everyone and often a first-stop-shop for people who really should not play with flammables.

Torsten

[AndyAmine.]

Brilliant, thanks Torsten.. Also makes me feel a bit better about the countless cans of Butane I inhaled as a kid, had me a little worried there for a second.

So what your saying is that both of these substances are smell deterants added to Butane so you can smell leaks?

Manufacturers only add the smelly stuff to camping gas not lighter gas, so that shouldnt even be a concern in Butane HoneyOil Extractions.

It would be nice to know exactly what the residues and contaminants one gets from lighter butane really are, then one could go about getting rid of it. Im assuming its moslty lubricants and left overs from piping and distribution system the butane runs through during various stages of manufacturing and canning.

Perhaps it is other fractions of hydrocarbon that are mixed in that dont eveaporate at room temps?

I get awful rashes and mucous in my throat from oil made via cheap or unclean/ed butane however I am extra sensitive to hydrocarbons due to over exposure and receive similar side effects so Im guessing they are related compounds.

Edited April 23, 2006 by AndyAmine.

[teonanacatl]

i wonder what other thiols are added? the thiols are neurotoxic so i wouldnt wanna dance with them. butanethiol has a bp of 98C. also a low bp doesnt mean it will evaporate fast. i wonder what reactions if any could occur with the thiols? thiolacetals/ketals, thiol ethers, disulphide bonds.

[AndyAmine.]

Sounds like a good reason to try some other gases like CO2, after all its working on the Super Critical Extraction principal, that Butane is OTC and in an easily usable can with nozzle, not necesarily on the pure fact that Butane is a good solvent to extract THC.

hmmmm.....