[Source] Amyl Nitrate

Jewelry Discussion
1

Hi,

I got a small gold electroplating kit to try out.

The gold solution is cyanide based.

The MSDS sheet says to administer oxygen and amyl nitrate.

I remember reading to get the amyl nitrate from a pharmacy, but my
local pharmacy doesn’t even know how to get it, much less stock it.

So, where can I get it here in the USA?

Thanks!

2

CVS stocks it or can order it.

Here’s more on cyanide that you should read.

Paf Dvorak

3

a google search tells me that amyl nitrate can be purchased at
walmart, kmart, walgreens and many other pharmacies. i know we used
to carry it in a cyanide exposure kit for hazmat responsed in our EMS
system.

john

4

Hi David,

I think you’re going to have issues finding amyl nitrate in the
states. The kids got into it, and started taking it for fun, called
the ampules ‘poppers’ as I recall. Which led to its promptly being
banned.

I think you can get it with a prescription, but you have to find a
doctor who knows about plating, and why you want it, and then find a
pharmacy that can get it. None of them will have it in stock.

I have to believe that the large gold plating companies must keep
some on hand. You might want to start calling platers, and see where
they got theirs.

Sorry I don’t have a better answer.

Regards,
Brian

5

David- We used to keep it on hand when we worked in a big fancy
retail store. OSHA rules.

Then one day it fell off it’s shelf and landed on some wood and
exploded. It sure smelled nasty.

We called my mother who was a chemist. She told us that amyl will
react with wood. Go figure.

I’ve never drunk cyanide and don’t plan on starting and my choice of
recreational drugs does not include poppers so we don’t keep it on
hand any more.

It’s easy enough to find on the internet.

Have fun and make lots of jewelry.

And don’t drink the shop chemicals.

Jo Haemer
timothywgreen.com

6 
I think you're going to have issues finding amyl nitrate in the
states.... Which led to its promptly being banned.

I walked into my local (mom & pop-style) pharmacy carrying a 25lb
plastic jar of sodium cyanide and asked him to sell me amyl nitrate
pearls.

He did. No prescription required.

Paf Dvorak

7 
I've never drunk cyanide and don't plan on starting and my choice
of recreational drugs does not include poppers so we don't keep it
on hand any more.

You can get cyanide poisoning from merely touching cyanide or
breathing fumes And I agree, poppers are a terrible high.

I keep some in my shop, just in case.

Paf Dvorak

8

I wonder if everyone here is talking about the same thing. I believe
the original “poppers” were amyl nitrite, not amyl nitrate, though
both are vasodilators. The nitrite is used for cyanide poisoning, and
as a prescription angina medication. The only use I’ve come across
for the nitrate is organic synthesis, and as a fuel additive.

In college, I was a lab assistant in chemistry. In the qual/quan
analysis lab, we had a huge syringe filled with a mix of sodium
thiosulfate and something else I don’t remember. The students were
told they would be injected with it in case of cyanide poisoning.

If cyanide poisoning is treated with nitrites, immediate medical
attention is still needed, because the treatment itself is
dangerous.

Al Balmer

9

Paf-

I used to know an old timer named Victor Kaiser. He was a plating
expert and consultant. I’ve watched him dip his finger in cyanide
solution and taste it to see what adjustments needed to be made. He
lived to be nearly 100 years old.

Have fun and make lots of jewelry.

Jo Haemer
timothywgreen.com

10 
 I've watched him dip his finger in cyanide solution and taste

I know people who skydive.

Paf Dvorak

11 
I used to know an old timer named Victor Kaiser. He was a plating
expert and consultant. I've watched him dip his finger in cyanide
solution and taste it to see what adjustments needed to be made.
He lived to be nearly 100 years old.

Cyanide poisoning is from getting enough into your system in a given
time period. Your body breaks it down and expels it. But if you go
over the limit it is fatal. I sure as hell would not try tasting the
solution but I can believe it happened. I knew an old timer who
tested induction casting system coils by tapping them with a screw
driver and when he did there was always a arc burn on his hand. I
decided there were safer ways to measure the coil output.

James Binnion
James Binnion Metal Arts

12

Thanks for the advice, I’ll try other pharmacies. If that fails,
there are some car gold plating places in town.

And yes, I know not to drink the stuff. J But the instructions also
say you can get it via exposure to the skin and I’m occasionally
spastic enough to knock things over.

13 
poppers are a terrible high

Just as an FYI kind of thing, when I was a much younger person, I
understood that among the gay community (at least in the city I was
in) it was popular to use poppers at the moment of sexual release to
get a spectacular experience. This is entirely hearsay, so not to be
counted on, though the source was in a position to know (so to
speak). Never been inclined to experiment, myself, I hasten to say.

Noel

14 
Just as an FYI kind of thing, when I was a much younger person, I
understood that among the gay community. it was popular to use
poppers at the moment of sexual release to get a spectacular
experience.

Just an aside: Sounds like my generation, but this activity was
popular in the straight world, as well; I didn’t hear it was a gay
thing until much later in life. Oh, what a sheltered life I must
have lived. Blessed be…