I want to use bulk aspirin (animal grade) in livestock's water;
however, I am unable to keep it in suspension in the water.  It will
be pumped through a mechanical device and metered into the drinking
water over a period of hours.  I can buy commercial animal-grade
aspirin, but it is very expensive.  It lists the following ingredients
on the package:  Active ingredients: Acetylsalacylic Acid, 262
Grains/Pack. Inert Ingredients: Sodium Acetate, Sodium Bi-Carbonate
Flow Additives.  I assume it is the two inert ingredients that make
the aspirin stay in suspension?  Is the Sodium Bi-Carbonate baking
soda?  Is it necessary to make the aspirin stay in suspension, or
would it have another function?  How can I make the cheap bulk aspirin
behave like the expensive commercial aspirin?

---

Clarification of Question by romdog-ga on 24 Jun 2004 14:26 PDT

Copying exactly from the commercial grade packet:
Inert Ingredients: Sodium Acetate, Sodium Bi-Carbonate Flow Additives
Since this is a product for animals, and from the description, my best
guess would be the Sodium Bi-Carbonate is a flow additive and not
buffering agent.

romdog-ga,

Well, well, well.  I was pulled away from this question for a few
days, and I return now (thanks, pinkfreud-ga!) to find that you've met
with success.  I'm glad to hear that you'll be able to milk your
chickens -- or whatever it is you farm folks do -- without them
getting any headaches now.

I wish there was a way I could share the booty with dr_bob-ga, but
alas, he is not a researcher (researcher names are in purple, and can
be clicked on).  However, his pithy comments are much appreciated.  I
hope he and I will have future opportunities for collaboration.

If you find that you need any additional information on the
dissolving-aspirin issue, feel free to let us know.  Just post a
Request for Clarification at any time, and let me know how I can be of
assistance.

Happy trails...

pafalafa-ga


search strategy:   personal knowledge of chemistry along with Google searches on:

[ aspirin solubility ]
[ acetylsalicylic solubility ]
[ aspirin solubility veterinary ]

Rapid response.  Thanks very much.

I'm pretty sure that aspirin is soluble (and stable) in boiling water.
 Have you tried pre-dissolving the aspirin in boiling water, and then
adding to the drinking water?  Alternatively, why not add it in solid
form to whatever the animals are eating?

Let me know if you've considered these options already.

pafalafa-ga

IIRC adding 1% per volume of silica or quicklime to water will enhance
the properties of suspending whatever you mix in the water , however i
do not know how these will influence animals (as in i do not know if
they are toxic)

palalafa-ga, and romdog. 

1.) I don't know how much material is not dissolving.  It is probably
normal if you have a small amount of stuff settling out. I would be
willing to bet a bazillian donuts that indeed it is the stabilizers
and flow additives and other items that is preventing the aspirin
solution from appearing clear.

HOWEVER,,,, if you have crude acetyl salicylic acid... and it is an
acid... you should check the pH of the solution.  The acid will
probably not be AS soluble in water as the carboxylate.  If the pH is
below 5, add a little sodium hydroxide to bring the pH up to 7-7.5
range.  Be careful because sodium hydroxide is caustic and solutions
of pH greater than say 8 will probably piss off your cows.

If I was doing this, as a an organic chemist... I would take said
solution, acidify and extract into organic solvent.  Filter and
isolate the crude acetyl salicylic acid in vacuo. (eg vacuum
distillation of organic solvent on a rotary evaporator, then pump
dry.)  Then dissolve and prepare a neutral pH solution(pH 7) of the
aspirin in water.

Now... provided that... 1/2 of the material isn't sitting in the
bottom of your bucket...  I think you can just filter out the cloudy
stuff and use as is.

Dr. Bob... just a poor organic chemist schlepping away...
chugs.

oh... i have quite often ground up commercial pills and isolated the
drug.... casodex, vicodin.... etc...  one can weigh out and use a mass
balance to determine that you got most of the bulking agents out.

Have you considered  colloidal silicone dioxide to maintain the
aspirin in suspension? It is an inert ingredient in many medical
emulsions. (For humans)

do not add silica...(sand).  it is not soluble in water and if you're
trying to pump it it will grind a hole in your peristaltic pump even
if it is in suspension.  Colloidal silica... won't solve your problem
if you're too acidic. Quicklime (calcium oxide calcium hydroxide
calcium carbonate).... would be basic enough to buffer the aspirin to
a high enough pH to deprotonate the acid, but you'll have to check the
pH as this will also be quite caustic...and will really piss off your
cows.

Have you considered using choline salicylate instead of aspirin?
Choline salicylate is readily available in liquid form, and it acts
similarly to aspirin.

http://www.medicinenet.com/Analgesics_Antipyretics/page3.htm

The bulk aspirin disslves in boiling water and then becomes what I
would describe as a cross between granule and paste as the water
cools.  It looks like a layer of snow with clear water on top. 
Putting it in feed is not an option.  It has to be metered out in the
drinking water.  The expensive commercial aspirin dissolves completely
(best done in warm water) and the water remains clear as it cools.

Regarding the choline salicylate - I would have to research cost, but
I think it would probably be much more expensive than the bulk animal
grade aspirin.  I need to keep cost down on this item.

romdog...

It's not clear in your post if 'Sodium Bi-Carbonate Flow Additives'
is one phrase, or if it's "Sodium Bi-Carbonate, Flow Additives".
Yes, Sodium Bicarbonate is baking soda, and, whether it is being
used as a suspension agent or not, it may also be present as a
buffering agent, to offset the acidity and prevent stomach irritation.

Silica is sand, silicone is not sand. Silicones are synthetic polymers
and are not therefore found naturally. It is used often in medicines
and cosmetic products.

"Silicone is incorporated into medicines"
http://www.silicone-review.gov.uk/silicone/index.htm

romdog.....

A couple of thoughts:  cheap ideas that might help...

1.) dissolve in distilled water, not tap water(if you have hard
water...this may be  complicating the matter).

2.) it's still not clear to me if the bulk of your aspirin is not
dissolving and you are not looking at the bulking agents they put in
pills.  A quick way to test the pH.  take some of the solution you
have, and add it to a solution of saturated baking soda.  If it
bubbles, you're too acidic.  If such is the case, just add baking soda
to the solution until it stops bubbling.  then shake.  it should
dissolve.

4.) It may be that.... you have a bunch of other stuff in there and
you're just saturated in ionic strength...in which case you could just
add more water till it all dissolves?

chugs.

silicone dioxide=sand=silica gel

sorry for the spelling problems crabcakes... but ...

silicon dioxide=sand=silica..
.
http://www.azom.com/details.asp?ArticleID=1385

silicones=mineral oils...  there are not silicone dioxide mineral oils...

Do not feed mineral oil to cows that are taking all kinds of other
stuff especially acids.  (see what happens when you take colace and
mineral oil).

wow...i'm just enough impatient today to be dangerous...

silicone oils are not mineral oils...

but both are generally insoluble in water...

chugs...

This has been a very enjoyable afternoon and I'm happy to report my
question is answered: Baking Soda.  I dissolved the cheap aspirin in
hot water and added a dash of baking soda.  The solution is completely
cooled and completely clear.  Thanks to all of you for your thoughtful
input and questions.

lemme guess...you figured it out on your own?

:P

oh... explaination... 

Most likely bulk aspirin is just expired aspirins.... buffered and
unbuffered.  thus you need to buffer them... with baking soda.

Chugs....

dr_bob...Not sure what your comment "figured it out on your own"
means.  I've never used this site before, so I probably don't
understand the in's and out's of it.  I thought that by writing "my
question has been answered" it was clear that the input from pafalafa
about pre-dissolving in boiling water and your's about the baking soda
got me to the answer to my question.  Perhaps that was only clear to
me.  I also thought that by writing that my question has been answered
that would appear in the "Answer" section above, and that didn't
happen.  I'll go read the fine print and see what I can do about that.
 And, finally, just in case "figured it out on your own" has something
to do with my not paying the $40.00 for the answer, rest easy on that
count.  I'm a girl of my word and the $40.00 should be paid - I think
split between you and pafalafa, if that's possible.  My apologies if I
misunderstood your comment and also for not better knowing how to use
this site.

oh no.... i do this stuff for fun..not for money,,, part of the stuff
i'm working on now means I sit in front of a computer and wait for it
to spit out data... google answers helps me cure the boredom......
sorry if it seemed like i was disappointed I was only joking,,, and
since i got the answer right and ur cows are happy, it makes me smile.

I just thought that by the time we posted like 20 different things
that you figgered it out all on your own without the help of a super
handy dandy chemist like myself...lol...

Anyway... why do you want to feed cows aspirin?  how do you know they
have a headache? ;-) is it blood clots or something?

Bob

oh yeah...i'm not a google answer guy...i'm just a commenter...
u can pay pafalafa if he thinks he earned it. ;-)

Well, it's not for cows.  It's given to chickens to thin their blood
and prevent heart attacks and heat stress as they get big and heavy.

p.s.  Forgot - Thanks for letting me know everything is okay with how
I got the answer.  I might have figured it out on my own - but I
didn't.  I had originally thought the sodium acetate was the flow
additive and had looked at some chemical sites trying to figure out
what it was and would it be worth it to me to try and buy some and
work with it.  Then I remembered a reference I read one time to this
site and decided to let some way smarter people than this country girl
take a run at how to get the aspirin dissolved.  I really enjoyed all
the responses, and now I'm having a great time reading answers to past
questions.  I'm in awe of the intelligence of the contributors to the
site!

Ahh yes, as it gets quite hot, you gotta keep your lazy chickens from
getting blood clots, and still keep them soft and yummy. Aspirin is
such a good idea!  Raising them for the county fair?  Good luck!

Shucks, all we do is sit around the compooter all day or hang out in
smelly chemistry labs.  Think of all the fun you're having walking
around in chicken poops?

pafalafa--what you guys need is a good organic chemist around here. 
One who can answer questions like this and about a half dozen of em
that involve more effort than I got $ free time to answer.  ;-)