ampakine
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Getting reagent grade chemicals from the pharmacy
I was in the pharmacy today and spotted caustic soda behind the counter so I bought some thinking it would be food grade NaOH since it was being sold
in a pharmacy but it turned out to be plain old drain cleaner. No idea why a pharmacy is selling drain cleaner but I'm wondering if I ask them if they
have food grade caustic soda for soap making will they order some for me. This pharmacy orders acetone and sodium thiosulphate in for me so I'd say
they'll order this for me too. That gets me wondering what other chemicals the pharmacy will order for me. Have any of you tried getting pharmacies to
order chemicals for you? I assume they'll only order chemicals that have either a medical use or known domestic use. It was a friend that told me he
gets thiosulphate from them and I remember him saying they sell it for analogue photography or something. There is a wide range of compounds used in
analogue photography but I can't imagine pharmacies selling chemicals like thionyl chloride over the counter. Then again analogue photography shops do
so its not beyond the realms of possibility.
[Edited on 29-4-2011 by ampakine]
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woelen
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In general, no answer can be given to your question. It strongly depends on which country you are in. Where I live, you cannot obtain any chemicals
from a pharmacy. Many years ago, they quit selling chemicals to the general public, except a few of the most basic ones (e.g. baking soda, citric
acid, rubbing alcohol and a few very common others). If they don't have a chemical in stock, they won't order it for you.
In other countries things may be very different. It all depends on what a pharmacy is doing. Where I live they just sell boxes with pre-made
medicines, which comes from the big suppliers. They do not prepare and mix anything themselves anymore. For this reason they have no need for any
chemicals anymore. I cannot even buy simple plastic containers anymore at a pharmacy, they also have no use for that anymore. If a pharmacy still
prepares medicines then you have a better chance of getting certain chemicals.
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m1tanker78
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It probably depends heavily on your location. For example, here I can have a pharmacy order 35% hydrogen peroxide for me. There's a catch. It costs
$117 + handling (USD) for 500mL and I need a Dr.'s authorization. Other have reported 35% H2O2 being available at 'the corner store'.
As for NaOH, do you absolutely need such a high purity? If not, some drain openers are fairly pure for routine chemical use. Look for the flake
variety; stay away from the ones that contain aluminum bits. It's pricey - ~$13.00 for a small can/bottle.
Other chems can be procured at pool supply stores. The one where I shop carries calcium chloride, cyanuric acid, calcium hypochlorite, and a few
others that I can't think of ATM.
Tank
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Steve_hi
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I buy NaOH at the local building supplies store with no additives its seems to be pure i compared a 1M solution that I prepared with reagent grade
that I bought from the chemical supply and it was pretty well the same it was 10$ for 1 kilo.
and a guy from ontario wrote in another forum that his local drug store orders chemicals for him, he mentioned Potassium permanganate. so it all
depends where you are and whether the pharmacist knows you or not. My pharmacist questioned me why I wanted citric acid as they keep that behind the
counter. He did sell it to me
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theflickkk
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Hmm where I live, I can get KMnO4 crystals and Diethylene glycol methyl ether (what can I do with this?), besides the usual acetone and isopropanol
that is.
However, I have never been able to find nitrates being sold. All nitrates/nitric acid products have been removed from the shelves D: There's
fertilizer with 5% nitrate content by weight though. Seems incredibly low to get anything useful out of it.
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Contrabasso
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As ever, there is no real answer. What you can get depends on the shop that you go to.
Hardware stores, pool stores, supermarkets, pharmacies, agricultural stores and lots of places hold chemicals for their industry sector. Some of these
can crossover into (y)our area of interest. Sometimes purities leave much to be desired, but that is a problem for all chemists and purification is
sometimes difficult. Sometimes products are too easily misused for antisocial purposes for leaving on open sale. Before the days of
Permitted/permissible explosives coal miners could buy their own blasting materials fro hardware stores, probably it's a good idea that HE's are not
simply open retail now.
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ldanielrosa
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It doesn't seem that long ago I could get KNO3 and sulfur at the pharmacy. I think I can get a better price at the agriculture store now than I could
get at the pharmacy then (now that I know where to look).
Woelen pretty much said it- we're a point-and-click society now. Too many of can't really cook anymore, or drive a stick, or change a filter. Sad.
You'll still find some of the things that are cheaper to sell pure than to cut.
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ampakine
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True it probably depends entirely on what country you are in. In my country (Ireland) pharmacists will order anything that their supplier stocks but
at the same time it depends on the pharmacist you talk to. I've had pharmacists tell me that their supplier does not sell a particular chemical but I
know this to be untrue because I had the chemical ordered by another pharmacy of the same branch.
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thethule
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Well, i remember in the late 80's-early 90's you could get over 50% Hydrogen Peroxide easily and cheaply at the pharmacies in the UK, as well as
Potassium Nitrate and the guy round the corner from my house used to order me anything i wanted, bottles of Nitric Acid, Sulphuric etc... Which might
not sound that odd, but i was about 15-16 and he was more than happy to sell to me.
By the way, im almost certain that they also sold higher concentration of Hydrogen Peroxide, but i cant be sure. One thing i AM sure about is that
stuff burns like hell if you get it on your skin. Which i did, a lot. I was an idiot and almost killed myself many many times...
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prof_genius
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I went to a pharmacy in the Netherlands 2 weeks ago and asked for silver nitrate, but the pharmacist said it needs prescriptions etc.  I can still get basic stuff like diethyl ether at those pharmacies.
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Hexavalent
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They'll sell you diethyl ether but not silver nitrate? 
"Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm." Winston Churchill
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Mailinmypocket
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Apparently in the Netherlands ether is very OTC!! Here I had to go through hell and high water to find a supplier :S I've only seen very small bottles
of "bandage adhesive remover" here in pharmacies that are composed of pure diethyl ether, but at 12.99$ for 30mls? No thanks! What is the purpose of
selling larger quantities of ether in pharmacies anyways? Home anesthesia? lol...
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Endimion17
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Ether in Netherlands is OTC? Why am I not surprised? 
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annaandherdad
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Quote: Originally posted by m1tanker78  | It probably depends heavily on your location. For example, here I can have a pharmacy order 35% hydrogen peroxide for me. There's a catch. It costs
$117 + handling (USD) for 500mL and I need a Dr.'s authorization. Other have reported 35% H2O2 being available at 'the corner store'.
Tank |
Check out Amazon, they sell H2O2 at various strengths, and no doctor's authorization required. There are various sellers, I don't know about purity.
Any other SF Bay chemists?
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prof_genius
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| Quote: Originally posted by Mailinmypocket |
Apparently in the Netherlands ether is very OTC!! Here I had to go through hell and high water to find a supplier :S I've only seen very small bottles
of "bandage adhesive remover" here in pharmacies that are composed of pure diethyl ether, but at 12.99$ for 30mls? No thanks! What is the purpose of
selling larger quantities of ether in pharmacies anyways? Home anesthesia? lol... |
They apparently sell it for use with some sort of healing essential oils. It's sad to see the pharmacies no longer make their products in the actual
pharmacy but get them from warehouses.
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Endimion17
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Pharmacies usually don't even have reagent grade chemicals. They have "pharma grade" chemicals. Those are the ones certified to lack things like heavy
metals, toxins and infectious matter, but their purity doesn't have to meet our needs, though it sometimes does.
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woelen
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| Quote: Originally posted by prof_genius | | I went to a pharmacy in the Netherlands 2 weeks ago and asked for silver nitrate, but the pharmacist said it needs prescriptions etc. I can still get basic stuff like diethyl ether at those pharmacies.
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Pharmacies are a crap source of chemicals in the Netherlands. It is nonsense that silver nitrate requires a
prescription, he just does not want the hassle of ordering this for you, it does not give him sufficient profit for the work it requires him to do.
Silver nitrate can be obtained from several suppliers and if you look on eBay you frequently find it as well for acceptable prices:
http://www.ebay.nl/sch/i.html?_trksid=p3907.m570.l1313&_...
Keep in mind that silver nitrate is not a cheap chemical, it costs you at least 1 euro per gram, in small quantities it is more expensive.
Diethyl ether indeed is OTC in the Netherlands. Small 100 ml bottles for EUR 4 or so, a liter bottle for EUR 25 or so.
[Edited on 11-7-13 by woelen]
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