I was talking to a friend about extracting dmt, and they seemed to think that there is a decent chance that what you end up with is not dmt, and could be dangerous.
so I was wondering what the chances are that it could be something else, and that that other thing could be harmful or deadly?
and are their any ways to check if it is dmt?

and I don't want to hear that the universe will look after you. im not trying to offend anyone who believes this sort of thing, but I don't and as far as I am concerned it is a useless answer.

The nexus wiki and forums will help the search man, it's a delicate and comprehensive process. But hard work always pays off.


-The Universe.

You seem a little agitated, I would suggest do your research, there is so much on here that answers your questions, and you should read the how to ask questions section, along with the attitude section before passing judgment on the type of answers you will receive.

Can you explain what dangers are you and you're friends are thinking off that may be harmful , or what are you're concerns ...maybe a little more info will help us help you ..

Do not worry the universe will look after you

Ok that was a joke.

Here is the truth - you have to look after your-self

Once you studied about extraction and all the safety that comes with it you will know exactly
how to get clean dmt. Do not believe what your friend is saying and read ,learn and research for your
self like we all did.

Make sure you know exactly what you gonna do and how you gonna do it. Once you know all the info about extraction and still dont understand something come back and ask. I am 100% sure someone will gladly
help you.

Good luck

Ramtimram, it (the universe ) helps if you begin with appropriate starting material. Attempting to extract DMT from St. Ignatius' bean, for example, can only lead to disaster.

All the information you need to know can be found here at the nexus. What were you planning on extracting from? Using what method?

@ ramtimram

Well done . A good post . Your friend is right . If the person who trys an extraction hasnt done proper research the end product they make could be dangerous . SO ....... as was said ...... if you do some reading here and ask questions you should get some helpfull advice .

Dont be discouraged by missplaced criticism . We all learn and we all make mistakes ....... and not all people have the good sense ...... as you did ...... to ask sensible questions .

first of all thankyou for the replies. I don't feel that I am agitated or that I am judging people, I did specifically say that I am not trying to offend anyone but it is just not what I believe. and I meant it. but I am sorry if I came of that way, that is the problem of words free of emotion and intention.

also I have studied the extractions here a fair bit, and I do have a pretty good understanding. but I recognised that I hadn't seen any information on checking if your yield was "good".
im not asking for people to assure me I will be okay or anything, I just thought that there might be a good method for checking this. or people might explain that it isn't a problem for some reason, I don't know.

anyway I am going to be using acacia floribunda bark, with the tek "Acacia Confusa extraction by yours truly (joshisom's tek)". im using 95% lye, and im using sheltie as naptha.

oh and to the person that asked what dangers I am concerning. that would be either extracting some other chemical that is dangerous, a chemical from the extraction remaining in the yield, or chemicals mixing and reacting to make a chemical that is dangerous. I guess this is extremely naive, but I don't know anything about chemistry.

By the time these things do not worry you anymore you've probably done enough researching to do it.
The only ways I can think of to produce something dangerous would be to use the wrong material, not let a solvent evaporate all the way, or not get all of the lye out.
Once you understand those things and you follow one of the teks here 100% step by step you will have something safe.

To check the quality of the end result of your extraction, you can buy colorimetric reagent tests. Include some thin layer chromatography in the procedure, and you'll have a pretty good estimate of identity and purity.

If you work properly, the only extraction chemical that could possibly remain in the end product is a possible impurity in your naphta. You can check this by doing an evaporation test before using it. If want to be certain, destillation of the naphta will make sure no nonvolatiles are left. In any case, assure yourself that the naphta is low on aromatics (benzen, toluene) because those mess up freeze precipitations.

The only dangerous reactions I can see happening is mixing lye and water, which generates a lot of heat. Hot lye is very caustic. Wear glasses. Wear gloves. Be careful not to inhale the fine mist of lye droplets that may occur if the water gets too hot from the dissolving lye.

Additional dangers are: glassware breaking from thermal shock or slipping through your fingers (fingerfat + lye => soap). Spilling corrosive uneraseable black paint all over the floor is nasty, the flammable naphta doesn't make it better. And yeah, naphta is flammable.

The wrong people may walk in at the wrong moment.


Good, so at least you know that you may have to learn some things. Most important safety advice is to think ahead of anything that can go wrong and then take precautions for such mishaps. One good precaution is to start really small, that way most mishaps will cause only small problems.

Overall, I would say driving a car is more dangerous. But people take their time to learn it and it works most of the time.

Ohhh, the mystery of slippery fingers is solved !

You made my day, thanks.

Another safety reason to wear gloves while handling lye: gloves aren't covered in fats that can be saponified, so they keep their grip.

Stop glorifying the extraction process, children could do it.

There are only 2 immediate risks and a couple potential risks. You could burn or blind yourself with lye, or start a fire with flammable solvents. You could potentially get basic material into the crystals, and that would be unpleasant to smoke. You could also get toxins into the product by using impure chemicals or dissolving plastic into the solvents.

To answer your question, it is possible but it would be highly unlikely if you followed one of our accepted procedures. Do your own research.

I don't think that's a fair representation of the risks in the extraction process.

You COULD spill a beaker of ph14 solution and not only cause burns to yourself, and risk your eyesight but it creates a huge caustic/solvent soaked mess that is technically a hazardous waste situation.

A child may be able to extract dmt, but that doesn't mean most children could/should do it safely. And what would a child need dmt for anyway?

I think its important to not understate the risks of accidents that can happen when extracting dmt using the lye/naptha method.

Personally i don't see why people don't reduce their liquid down more, and do smaller scale extractions that are in the 125-250ml range, plus your 50-75ml of solvent of course. Much less risk involved if their is an accidental spill.

Just my 2c on the matter

You are carrying out a mindnumbingly simple proceedure that ever organic chemist will do exadtly 12 million times during their life. Yes, there are risks. However they are on par with driving to the grocery store, and buying milk. Wear goggles, and keep vinegar nearby. Problem?

Stop acting like extracting DMT out of bark is some kind of high risk operation and lye as though it were trichloro flourine. Learn to use the chemicals safely, and proceed.

I agree with 1ce, it's so easy and basic chemistry, I worked with worse in school. Boils down to if you don't have the safety supplies, take precautions, be safe and understand exactly what you are doing or the competency to do so then don't do it, it's that simple. Other than that every single thing you need to know is on the nexus. Research and then research it again. Peace

thanks for the replies everyone. I guess the main thing I was thinking of is if there were another chemical in the bark, that was an alkaloid and was poisonous. then you could extract that instead or aswell.
maybe this isn't a problem though, I was thinking it might be more of a problem for me because im using a lesser known bark.
either way I will have a look at what else is in there, if I can find it.

I wasn't worried about this at all until the other day when my friend was talking to me about it. he was saying I should catch a rat and force them to smoke some. it made me think I should check it out

If that's your concern then use a more well known bark, then you won't have anything to be worried about, until you can get more information on the other seems to be the best solution.

As I already wrote above, you'll need to do TLC on your extract, preferably alongside with a known-good standard of DMT.

You can also send it to some lab to analyze it with more fancy methods like GC/MS. These labs are expensive though and only few will discreetly analyze samples possibly containing DMT. One of the discrete and affordable options is Energy Control.

You say you plan to use Acacia floribunda? Hmmm...



I see that councils sometimes plant it?
GROW YOUR OWN! (STS)