Comment · Sat, January 22, 2022 · ND Owner
Does NAC go bad over time?
Original post in this thread
OGmush88 · 13 points
Left NAC in my room for a few summer months (90 degree room temp). Smells Like sulfur now…is it still okay to take?
What they were answering
Ratharax · 1 points
u/misteryouaresodumb, what do you think about this? Do you think it makes sense that there's just a tiny amount being oxidized that makes the smell? I believe your observations, but is it possible the oxidation was just quite small?
I've also been wondering why your NAC comes in 500 mg capsules when all the literature uses 600 mg increments
u/MisterYouAreSoDumb · ND Owner
No, because the smell dissipates over time and does not come back, and is not correlated with a change in assay. If it was just small amounts oxidizing, it would consistently smell forever as long as there was more NAC to break down. That's not what happens. You would also see the assay value drop over long periods, which we don't see in the lab. It's a stable molecule. It won't form H2S on its own just sitting there.
All the literature doesn't use 600mg. The 1991 study on it used 200mg and 400mg doses.
https://sci-hub.se/10.2165/00003088-199120020-00004
More recent studies have used both 600mg, 1,000mg, and 1,200mg doses. We set our 500mg capsules years ago, and that is what I have always personally used. We never felt there was a compelling reason to change it.