HHomeBackground Color:He
LiBeIodine Main PageBlack White GrayBCNOFNe
NaMgIodine Pictures PageAlSiPSClAr
KCaIodine Technical DataScTiVCrMnFeCoNiCuZnGaGeAsSeBrKr
RbSrYZrNbMoTcRuRhPdAgCdInSnSbTeIXe
CsBaLaCePrNdPmSmEuGdTbDyHoErTmYbLuHfTaWReOsIrPtAuHgTlPbBiPoAtRn
FrRaAcThPaUNpPuAmCmBkCfEsFmMdNoLrRfDbSgBhHsMtDsRgCnNhFlMcLvTsOg

Antique reagent bottle.
An example of the element Iodine

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Iodine Antique reagent bottle
Antique reagent bottle.
I first suspected something was up with iodine when I noticed that some of the eBay auctions for it were anonymous, a sure sign that there was something edgy going on. It only took a few minutes of research to determine the reason: It's used in the synthesis of methamphetamine (crystal meth). Just as you can't go and buy a dozen large bottles of Sudafed anymore, you can't buy too much iodine without raising eyebrows and perhaps a posse.

It's not in any sense illegal to buy, own, or transport any amount of iodine, just like it's not illegal to go into Walmart and buy 10,000 Sudafed pills. But watch out if you do: tracking people who do is one of the main ways meth labs are found, at least that's the way it seems from the frequent newspaper articles saying so-and-so was arrested outside of Walmart with six bottles of pseudoephedrine. Maybe he just had a really bad cold?

Source: Anonymous
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 8 May, 2003
Price: $40
Size: 4"
Purity: 99.9%
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