does anyone know the governments outlook on the two chemicals formaldehyde and ammonium chloride and maybe where they can be found?

The only govenrmental outlook for formaldehyde that comes to mind is "carcinogen".

Formaldehyde forms a dimer known a para-formaldehyde or trioxymethylene. Rumor has it that this is sometimes found in certain mildewcides.

Another potential source would be trioxane, the cyclic dimer or trimer of formaldehyde.

Trioxane fuel bars are used for camping stoves in a fashion similar to hexamine.

Trioxane can be converted into monomeric formaldehyde with small concentrations of strong acids.

I once heard that ammonium formate was sold as a kettle de-scaler in the UK.

I'd imagine ammonium chloride and sodium formate or formic acid and aq ammonia would easily get you there.

I guess if you can't get any taxidermist supplies and you need some formic, you could oxidise methanol with permanganate to get the corresponding carboxylic acid.

Another interesting note methanol & air can be made into formaldehyde in a tube furnace using a metallic silver catalyst.

[This message has been edited by Dyler_Turden (edited 10-16-2000).]

Formaldehyde is used for embalmming in a 2% solution. Not my choice but an option if you're dying to get some. Formalin is a 37% solution.

Ammonium chloride has thousands of industrial uses. If you're by Mount Vesuvius pick some up for the kids. Much easier bought than made but for academic purposes I will elaborate. NH4Cl formation leans toward the HCl side when vapors of HCl and NH3 are allowed to mingle. The ratio of diffusion rates of two gases is equal to the square root of the inverse of the ratio of their molecular weights. Take HCl and NH3 and apply.

Also can be formed as a byproduct of the Solvay process for producing sodium carbonate or by reaction of ammonium sulfate and sodium chloride solutions.

Embalming fluid 2% formaldehyde and 98% what?

Bear in mind embalming fluid aslo contains phenol which tends to polymerize with formaldehyde, do some research on bakelite.

If that's the route you wanna go there's formaldehyde in apples and particle board too.

Besides there's some stupid rumor that went around and made people thing embalming fluid is used to dip joints in. The is rumor wrong but people still try to get and smoke embalming fluid so expect some static if you try to buy it.

Paraform & trioxane are over the counter items that won't even raise an eyebrow. Not to mention the amount and quality will easily supercede that which might be extractable from embalming fluid.

I don't why I was thick ammonium format einstead of chloride but...

This is just my opinion, I've never tried it but I think it's safe to assume if you mix ammonium hydroxide & muriatic acid you'll wind up with a white cloudy solution without computing any gas equations.

98% nothing. It is a mixture. There are different preparations for arterial embalming and cavity embalming, and depending on the state of decay, appearence factors, and other requirements. In arterial embalming, veins and arteries will often be injected with fluid containing dye to liven up the appearence. Preparations are made from isopropyl alcohol, phenol as you said, propylene glycol, amphyl, and formaldehyde. The formaldehyde concentration varies. Formalin is often used in place of pure formaldehyde, and being a dilluted form probably accounts for the low percentage of formaldehyde that is actually used. Formaldehyde is very tightly controlled by the EPA. I have also seen mention of arsenic and strychnine being used in embalming fluids, but I don't know what purpose they serve.

"If that's the route you wanna go there's formaldehyde in apples and particle board too."

It's not the route I would go. I said if you were "dying to get some" it is an alternative. I will attempt to keep the humor at a more moderate level.

The stupid rumor about cigarettes and embalming fluid is no rumor. Whether they actualy use embalming fluid (which I doubt), formaldehye (which I doubt even more), or formalin (most likely), it is considered to be a poor man's PCP. It's total bullshit, but there are people dumb enough to try anything once they hear that it gets you high. It is done to both cigarettes and joints be the truly daring and moronic.




[This message has been edited by phayzed (edited 10-17-2000).]

how can formaldehyde be seperated from embalming fluid and where can ammonium chloride be purchased?