Drug info - Diethyl Ether basics

[Pino]

Diethyl ether is an sweet smelling colorless gas, which has a long history of recreational and medicinal use. It was invented by a chemist in 1275 named Raymundus Lullius. He first called it sweet vitriol. Because one of the key elements to produce ether from ethanol is vitriol (an old name for H2SO4). It was renamed later to ether by W.G. Frobenius, which comes from Aether. Aether was the Greek God of the Atmosphere. He supplied the the Greek Gods the air, they breathed, which wasn't accessible to mortals. It shouldn't be difficult to guess the psychoactive properties of ether were found before Frobenius renamed it. This was found by a Swiss Physician with the tantalizing name Paracelsus.
Ether was one of the first dissociatives known to man along with ethylene from the Delphi Oracle and the sacred plant Salvia Divinorum. Around 1790 ether was used as an recreational substance. In 1840 it hits the masses and so called Ether Frolics starts to arise. One year later the anesthetic value of ether is recognized. And around 1847 it is widely accepted as general anesthetic agent, replacing more barbaric methods like the wooden hammer.
It has been drunken and inhaled during the prohibition of alcohol in various countries as an alcohol replacement. Especially so in Ireland: From 1870 till 1927 ether is one of the most important drugs of abuse in Ireland. In 1927 it's use was only permitted by medical personal.
Until today it is still used in Third World Country, because it is a well tolerated, safe and effective anesthetic agent.

MSDS SHEET

General

• Synonyms: ether, ethyl ether, ethoxyethane, 1,1'-oxybis ethane, diethyl oxide, aether, ethyl oxide, aether, anesthetic ether, rcra waste number U117, solvent ether
• Molecular formula: C4H10O
• CAS No: 60-29-7
• EC No: 200-467-2
• Annex I Index No: 603-022-00-4

Physical data

• Appearance: colourless liquid
• Melting point: -116 C
• Boiling point: 34.6 C
• Specific gravity: 0.71
• Vapour pressure: 400 mm Hg at 18 C
• Flash point: -40 C
• Explosion limits: 1.7% - 48%
• Autoignition temperature: 170 C
• Water solubility: 6.9% (20 C)

Stability

• Stable, but light-sensitive, sensitive to air. May contain BHT (2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-methylphenol) as a stabilizer. Substances to be avoided include zinc, halogens, halogen-halogen compounds, nonmetals, nonmetallic oxyhalides, strong oxidizing agents, chromyl chloride, turpentine oils, turps substitutes, nitrates, metallic chlorides. Extremely flammable. This material is a serious fire and explosion risk. Vapour may travel considerable distances to ignition sources, which need not be an open flame, but may be a hot plate, steam pipe, etc. Vapour may be ignited by the static electricty which can build up when ether is being poured from one vessel into another. If large quantities of material are being poured, suitable precautions must be taken.
  May form explosive peroxides on storage. Peroxides are generally higher-boiling than the materials from which they form. Consequently, if a peroxide-containing solution is heated, the residue becomes progressively more concentrated in peroxide and the risk of explosion increases rapidly. Vapour-air mixture explosive (note wide explosion limits). As at 6.11.97 regulated in the UK under the Highly Flammable Liquids and Liquefied Petroleum Gases Regulations 1972.

Toxicology

• Harmful by ingestion, inhalation or through skin contact. May cause inebriation or coma. May cause allergic reaction. Skin, eye and respiratory system irritant. Typical 8h TWA 400 ppm.
• Toxicity data
  ORL-MAN LDLO 260 mg kg-1
  ORL-RAT LD50 1215 mg kg-1
  IHL-MUS LC50 31000 ppm/30m
• Irritation data
  EYE-HMN 100 ppm
  SKN-RBT 360 mg open mld
  SKN-GPG 50 mg/24h sev
• Risk phrases
  R12 R19 R22 R66 R67.

Transport information

• UN No 1155. IMO 3.1/1155. Packing group I. IMDG class 3.1.

Personal protection

• Safety glasses. Good ventilation. Ensure sources of ignition are kept well away. Safety phrases
• (The meaning of any safety phrases which appear in this section is given here.)
• S9 S16 S29 S33.

Usage

Ether can be drunken and be inhaled.

Drinking

One of the most famous ether containing products was Hoffman's drops. This was a mixture of 1.650 ml of ether and 3.35 ml of 60% alcohol. Ether cannot be drunk pure, because it will damage the G.I. tract and also problems with the large amount of gas forming are to be expected. The best results are achieved by mixing it with an alcoholic beverage like whiskey and then chase it by a glass of ice cold water. This will restrict the boiling of ether somewhat. A dosage as small as 1 ml can be felt. Drinking ether is not recommended because it can damage the G.I. tract.

Inhaling

Inhaling of ether can best be done by pouring a small amount (like 10ml) into a whisky glass and keeps ones hand on the top, while inhale small amounts between the fingers. Due to the nature of ether, it is not recommended to do this the first times. One can forget it is ether and try to drink the pure substance.

A one more spoiling method, but effect wise as good, is pouring ether on a rag. The following technique can be used: The rag has to be folded into a square. In the middle of the folded rag a small amount of ether should be poured. This can be done by putting the middle of the rag on top of the bottle and turn the bottle upside down. After the amount wished is poured upon the rag, the rag can be hold into the hands with a fold over the diagonal. This is to prevent the ether touches ones lips, which can be pretty painful.

A plastic bag should never be used, because ether can leave some unconscious. If the bag is accidentally over ones mouth at that moment, one could die. Ether is not a replacement for air, so if someone choses this unwise and dangerous method. That one should take breaths between the intake from ether from the bag.

Safety Issues

It is important to stress that ether is an extreme flameable substance. In a closed room like the bottle, it can easily become explosive. Even in a room, where the air is satisfied with 1.7% ether is potentially an explosive. The results of such an event can be guessed. Many ether drinkers have died due to smoking and using ether at the same time. Even sparks can easily ignite ether. Therefore some hints at safe usage are needed.

• Never ever move a heat source towards an ether. Never.
  
• Ventilate the place, you plan to use.
  
• Keep the bottle on a safe, dark and well ventilated place.
  
• Ether can also form explosive peroxides over time, so if one is planning to use ether, small amounts could be bought best.
• Never use a plastic bag to inhale ether. Never.
  
• Ether shouldn't be in a bottle, where the fumes can't escape; Ether has a low boiling point, so a temperature change has quite a effect. The bottle can explode.
  
• Ether is an heavy gas. It can creep over the floor towards a lower place. This is potential dangerous, because the ether can collect there and become explosive. Again ventilation is important. Outside use is best.
  
• Ether can cause allergic reactions and is an irritant.

Effects

The effects of ether are staged. Mostly users go trough the following pattern. First effects like alcohol are felt. Only a more extreme version of it. Then the first hints of disassociation follows. At this stage euphoria can be felt accompanied by strange thoughts, moderate to heavy hallucinations and giggling, but also anxiousness and dysphoria. After this the user can enter a dreamy realm in which reality seems to have be replaced by some strange and twisted version. The user can loose awareness of itself, his body and the way things works. The user usually forgets he used ether, which can be potentially dangerous. A sitter is a good thing to do on ether. Everything can be expected from ones new and fresh reality. The last phase is sleep, which the experienced user tries to prevent. Mostly the user wakes up after this to do more ether or to recollect memories from the experience. Sometimes a mystical experience can be reached.

Positive

• Relaxation.
• Appreciation of music.
• Mild to heavy sound distortions. (Things can start to talk to you).
• Mild to heavy hallucinations.
• Dream like state.
• Disassociation.

Neutral

• Illogical and irrational thoughts.
• Short term memory can be pretty dysfunctional.
• Chronological order can change.
• Unable to cope with reality.
• Analgesia.
• Loss of coordination.
• Can induce sleep.
• Disorientation.

Negatives

• Nausea.
• Vomiting.
• Potential death from overdosing.

Swim would like to see this to be expanded a bit, so let say something about long term use. Pharmacology etc. Swim isn't a real star on those points. Also swim isn't sure about dosage, when drinking. So he kept it on the low side. Duration is also a problem.

Addiction

Anecdotical; But ether is really addicting. It has more addicting potential than ethanol. For the psychedelic aware person it is even more addicting than cocaine. Be aware it is not harmless to the body.

[Pino]

Does anyone know, how much damage ether does to the brain and other organs? It is a solvent, so swim guesses one needs to be careful with it. But he can't find any reference about it. He assumes it is alike or more than alcohol. But he isn't sure.

He dug this up from pubmed:

Effect of various mixtures of diethylether, halothane, nitrous oxide and oxygen on low molecular weight iron content and mitochondrial function of the rat myocardium.
van Jaarsveld H, Kuyl JM, De Wet EH, Alberts DW, van der Westhuizen FD.

Anaesthetic drugs can induce reversible as well as irreversible changes in cell membranes and intracellular proteins as well as lipid peroxidation in the liver. Low molecular weight iron species (LMWI) can by their catalytic activity contribute to the generation of free radicals (hydroxyl radicals). Free radicals are a recognisable cause of intracellular damage. Impaired mitochondrial function is also a sign of intracellular damage, which is usually irreversible. Thus, an agent may be cytotoxic when it causes a significant increase in intracellular LMWI. Whether the LMWI arise from ferritin or is released from iron containing proteins, the same reaction occurs. As long as LMWI can undergo redox cycling, hydroxyl radicals can be formed. We investigated the effect of various mixtures of diethylether, halothane, nitrous oxide and oxygen on the intracellular LMWI content and mitochondrial function of the rat myocardium. Hearts isolated from rats anaesthetised with diethylether showed an increase in the cytosolic LMWI compared to the control group. No increase in mitochondrial LMWI was demonstrated. Subsequent perfusion of the isolated hearts showed a further increase in the LMWI. On perfusion the mitochondrial LMWI increased in comparison with controls. Mitochondrial function was significantly impaired as measured by the QO2 (state 3), ADP/O ratio and oxidative phosphorylation rate (OPR). Exposure of rats to 50% nitrous oxide for 15 minutes increased the myocardial LMWI, but had no effect on mitochondrial function. Exposure to room air for 30 minutes before isolating the hearts, still showed a significant increase in LMWI with no detectable change in mitochondrial function.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

So it does damage, but he isn't sure what it means.

In this article there is spoken about the known -but he can't find it- toxicity of ether:

Nagate T, Chino T, Nishiyama C, Okuhara D, Tahara T, Maruyama Y, Kasahara H, Takashima K, Kobayashi S, Motokawa Y, Muto S, Kuroda J.Diluted isoflurane as a suitable alternative for diethyl ether for rat anaesthesia in regular toxicology studies.
J Vet Med Sci. 2007 Nov;69(11):1137-43.
PMID: 18057828 [PubMed - in process]

Despite its explosive properties and toxicity to both animals and humans, diethyl ether is an agent long used in Japan in the anaesthesia jar method of rat anaesthetises. However, in response to a recent report from the Science Council of Japan condemning diethyl ether as acceptable practice, we searched for an alternative rat anaesthesia method that provided data continuous with pre-existing regular toxicology studies already conducted under diethyl ether anaesthesia. For this, we examined two candidates; 30% isoflurane diluted with propylene glycol and pentobarbitone. Whereas isoflurane is considered to be one of the representatives of modern volatile anaesthetics, the method of propylene glycol-diluted 30% isoflurane used in this study was our modification of a recently reported method revealed to have several advantages as an inhalation anaesthesia. Intraperitoneal pentobarbitone has long been accepted as a humane method in laboratory animal anaesthesiology. These 2 modalities were scrutinized in terms of consistency of haematology and blood chemistry with previous results using ether. We found that pentobarbitone required a much longer induction time than diethyl ether, which is suspected to be the cause of fluctuations in several haematological and blood chemical results. Conversely, only calcium ion concentration showed a slight difference from traditional results in the case of 30% isoflurane. Additionally, serum prolactin and corticosterone levels indicated that 30% isoflurane induced less stress than ether, confirming that 30% isoflurane can both provide results consistent with diethyl ether, while at the same time remove its disadvantages. As such 30% isoflurane appears to be a strong alternative anaesthetic agent for future regular toxicology studies in Japan.

And here something about ether and cancercells:

P. G. Klering, A. N. Makarenko and N.Kh. Pogorelaya
Received: 9 January 1992
Abstract It has been found that the more differentiated growing cells of a neuroblastoma culture retract their neurites under the action of diethyl ether (for anesthesia) in a dose of 1.0 ml per 15 ml of culture medium for 2 h; as a result, their cytoplasm is gradually drawn into the cell bodies. Under these conditions the coefficient K, which reflects the ratio of the number of neuroblastoma cell bodies to the number of their processes and is 9.94±2.12 in the initial state, gradually increases to 19.66±1.93 (P<0.002). There is also a substantial change in the shape of the cells and a decrease in their volume. This reaction is characteristic both of relatively undifferentiated neuroblastoma cells and for more differentiated cells in various phases of individual cellular development and morphological differentiation. The data obtained create the prerequisites for a search for drugs capable of preventing the destruction of neurons under anesthesia.
A. A. Bogomolets Institute of Physiology, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Kiev. Kiev Institute for the Advanced Training of Physicians, Ukrainian Ministry of Health. Translated from Neirofiziologiya, Vol. 24, No. 3, pp. 279–285, May–June, 1992.

And from erowid:

Ether was also used for recreational purposes at least as early as the 1790s, when James Graham (1745-1794), described by Dr. Nagle as "a famous London quack, proprietor of the Temple of Hymen and owner of the Celestial Bed," 12 was accustomed to inhale an ounce or two several times a day, in public, "with manifest placidity and enjoyment." 13 There are accounts of ether drinking and ether sniffing at universities in both England and the United States during the nineteenth century. But the major nineteenth-century outbreak occurred in Ireland, under circumstances that carry a lesson. Dr. Nagle reports: "About 1840 a Catholic priest, Father Matthew, led a great temperance crusade through England, Scotland, and Ireland. It was one of the most successful that ever occurred; thousands took the pledge." One of them was an alcoholic physician named Kelly who practiced in Draperstown, Northern Ireland. "Aghast at the pleasure he had given up, but not wishing to break his pledge, [Dr. Kelly] cast about for a substitute. He had prescribed ether by mouth on occasion and knew of its pleasant effects. After a few personal experiments he imparted the knowledge to his friends and patients who had also taken the pledge." 14 Ether sniffing became endemic in Draperstown.

Fifteen years later, when the British government placed a stiff tax on alcoholic beverages and when the constabulary clamped down on home distilled Irish whiskey, Kelly's discovery was recalled and exploited to the hilt. Ether, which was not subject to the tax, was distilled in London and shipped to Draperstown and other places in Northern Ireland by the ton. Ether "was preferred in some ways, and especially among the poor, to the now-expensive whiskey. The drunk was quick and cheap, and could be achieved several times a day without hangover. If arrested for drunkenness, the offender would be sober by the time the police station was reached." 15

A surgeon visiting Draperstown in 1878 remarked that the main street smelled like his surgery, where ether was used as an anesthetic. Old ether topers, he added, could finish off a three-ounce wineglassful at a single swig, without even water for a chaser. "Everyone who discussed this particular phenomenon," Dr. Nagle notes, "admitted that there appeared to be less chronic damage than with alcohol." But hazards were also noted: chronic gastritis, deaths from overdosage, and fatal burns from smoking while drinking–– for ether is extremely flammable.

But there was apparently chronic damage, but it seemed less than alcohol.