Impure Test Substances
It is not necessary to have pure test substances. For instance, a tire balancer made of lead can be easily obtained at an auto service station. Leaded gasoline and lead fishing weights also make good test substances for lead. There is a disadvantage, though, to using impure test substances. You are including the extra impurities in your test. If your lead object also has tin in it, you are also testing for tin. Usually, you can infer the truth by some careful maneuvering. If you have searched your kidneys for leaded gasoline, fishing weights and tire balancers and all 3 are resonant with your kidneys, you may infer that you have lead in your kidneys, since the common element in all 3 items is
lead. (You will learn how to specify a tissue, such as your kidneys, later.)
Using pure chemicals gives you certainty in your results. You can purchase pure chemicals from chemical supply companies (see Sources). Your pharmacy, a child’s chemistry set, a paint store, or biological supply company can also supply some.
The biggest repository of all toxic substances is the grocery store and your own home.
You can make test substances out of your hand soap, water softener salt, and laundry detergent by putting a small amount (1/16 tsp.) in a V2ounce glass bottle and adding about 2 tsp. filtered water. (Or for quick testing just put them dry or wet in a sealed plastic baggy.) Always use a plastic spoon.
Here are some suggestions for finding sources of toxic products to make your own toxic element test. If the product is a solid, place a small amount in a plastic bag and add a tablespoon of filtered water to get a temporary test product. For permanent use put it in a small amber glass bottle. If the product is a liquid, pour a few drops into a glass bottle and add about 2 tsp. filtered water. Keep all toxic substances in glass bottles for your own safety. Small amber glass dropper bottles can be purchased by the dozen at drug stores (also see Sources). seal your test bottles with tape for safety and to prevent evaporation.
Aflatoxin: scrape the mold off an orange or piece of bread; wash hands afterward.
Acetone: paint supply store or pharmacy.
Arsenic: 1/16 tsp. of arsenate pesticide from a garden shop. A snippet of flypaper.
Aluminum: a piece of aluminum foil (not tin foil) or an aluminum measuring spoon.
Aluminum silicate: a bit of salt that has this free running agent in it.
Asbestos: a small piece of asbestos sheeting, an old furnace gasket, 1/4 inch of a clothes dryer belt that does not say “Made in USA”, or a crumb of building material being removed due to its asbestos content (ask a contractor).
Barium: save a few drops from the beverage given clients scheduled for an X-ray. Lipstick that has barium listed in the ingredients.
Benzene: an old can of rubber cement (new supplies do not have it). A tsp. of asphalt crumbs from a driveway.
Beryllium: a piece of coal; a few drops of “coal oil” or lamp
oil.
Bismuth: use a few drops of antacid with bismuth in it.
Bromine: bleached “brominated” flour.
Cadmium: scrape a bit off a galvanized nail, paint from a hobby store.
Cesium: scrape the surface of a clear plastic beverage bottle.
CFCs (freon): ask an electronics expert for a squirt from an old aerosol can that used freon as a cleaner. (squirt into water, outdoors, put the water in a sample bottle.)
Chromate: scrape an old car bumper.
Cobalt: pick out the blue and green crumbs from detergent. A sample of cobalt containing paint should also suffice.
Chlorine: a few drops of pure, old fashioned Clorox.™
Copper: ask your hardware clerk to cut a small fragment off a copper pipe of the purest variety or a H inch of pure copper wire.
Ergot: a teaspoon of rye grains, or rye bread. Add grain alcohol to preserve.
Ether: automotive supply store (engine starting fluid).
Ethyl alcohol (grain alcohol): the purest “drinking” alcohol available. Everclear™ in the United States, Protec™ (potable) in Mexico.
Fiberglass: snip a fragment from insulation.
Fluoride: ask a dentist for a small sample.
Formaldehyde: purchase 37% at a pharmacy. Use a few drops only for your sample.
Gasoline: gas station (leaded and unleaded).
Gold: ask a jeweler for a crumb of the purest gold available or use a wedding ring.
Kerosene: gas station.
Lead: wheel balancers from a gas station, weights used on fishing lines, lead solder from electronics shop.
Mercury: a mercury thermometer (there is no need to break it), piece of amalgam tooth filling.
Methanol: paint supply store (wood alcohol).
Nickel: a nickel plated paper clip, a washed coin.
Patulin (apple mold): cut a sliver of washed, bruised apple.
PCB: water from a quarry known to be polluted with it (a builder or electrical worker may know a source).
Platinum: ask a jeweler for a small specimen.
Propyl alcohol: rubbing alcohol from pharmacy (same as propanol or isopropanol). use a few drops only, discard the rest. Do not save it.
PVC: glue that lists it in the ingredients (polyvinyl chloride).
Radon: leave a glass jar with an inch of filtered water in it standing open in a basement that tested positive to radon using a kit. After 3 days, close the jar. Pour about 2 tsp. of this water into your specimen bottle.
Silicon: a dab of silicon caulk.
Silver: ask a jeweler for a crumb of very pure silver. Silver solder can be found in electronics shops. Snip the edge of a very old silver coin.
Sorghum mold: 1/8 tsp. sorghum syrup.
Styrene: a chip of styrofoam.
Tantalum: purchase a tantalum drill bit from hardware store.
Tin: scrape a tin bucket at a farm supply. Tin solder. Ask a dentist for a piece of pure tin (used to make braces).
Titanium: purchase a titanium drill bit from a hardware store.
Toluene: a tube of glue that lists toluene as an ingredient.
Tungsten: the filament in a burned out light bulb.
Vanadium: hold a piece of dampened paper towel over a gas stove burner as it is turned on. Cut a bit of this paper into your specimen bottle and add 2 tsp. filtered water.
Xylene: paint store or pharmacy.
Zearalenone: combine leftover crumbs of three kinds of corn chips and three kinds of popcorn.
This list gets you off to a good start. Since few of these specimens are pure, there is a degree of logic that you must apply in most cases. If you are testing for barium in your breast, a positive result would mean that a barium-containing lipstick tests positive and a barium-free lipstick is negative.
A chemistry set for hobbyists is a wonderful addition to your collection of test specimens. Remember, however, the assumptions and errors in such a system. A test for silver using silver chloride might be negative. This does not mean there is no silver present in your body; it only means there is no silver chloride present in the tissue you tested.
You are bound to miss some toxins; don’t let this discourage you. There is more than enough that you can find.
The most fruitful kind of testing is, probably, the use of household products themselves as test substances. The soaps, colognes, mouthwash, toothpaste, shampoo, cosmetics, breads, dairy products, juices and cereals can all be made into test specimens. Put about 1/8 tsp. of the product in a small glass bottle, add 2 tsp. filtered water and H tsp. grain alcohol to preserve it. For temporary purposes use a plastic baggy and water only. If you test positive to your household products in your white blood cells you shouldn’t use them, even if you can not identify the exact toxin.
For a list of toxins and solvents I use, see page 571. To order pure substances see Sources for “chemicals for testing.”