Brooklyn Democratic Party bans ‘poisonous’ sodium nitrite after youth suicides

A new law in Albany will ban retailers like Amazon from selling sodium nitrite, a common meat preservative linked to youth suicide across the country.

“It’s basically like a suicide poison,” State Senator Andrew Gunardes (D-Brooklyn) told The Post Friday.

“There are entire websites – entire corners of the dark web where people say, “This is how you do it. This is how you take your life. You just need to go online and order x amount of sodium nitrite, mix it with water and drink it.”

The bill, which Gunardes plans to formally introduce on Monday, would ban both online retailers and brick-and-mortar stores from selling the salt-like substance “without proof of its alleged institutional or scientific use.”

Only people aged 21 and over will be able to buy sodium nitrite under the bill, which also establishes the right of individuals to sue violators of the ban.

“I think we will get a lot of support,” Gunardes said.

Amazon has faced criticism in recent years for resisting efforts by families of victims to curb the sale of a toxic compound that the New York Times has linked to the deaths of at least 10 people who bought it on the site. Overall, several dozen deaths across the country have been linked to the chemical.

“They know it kills people,” Ruth Scott, a Texas resident whose 18-year-old son committed suicide, told The Times last year. “They are fully aware. They just don’t care.”

A lawyer associated with Scott, who filed a class action lawsuit against the e-commerce giant, eventually brought their dispute to the attention of Gunardes.

A Brooklyn lawmaker told The Post on Friday that he has personally seen sodium nitrite for sale on Amazon at a purity level well above the 6.25% allowed for commercial use.

“It should not be sold on the open market. You shouldn’t be able to go into Amazon and buy sodium nitrite in quantities that could kill you,” Gunardes said. “And it’s really not new. I mean, Etsy and eBay have banned the sale of any form of sodium nitrite above 6.25% purity worldwide because it is useless to anyone other than a commercial meatpacker.”

An Amazon mail survey on Friday found no sales of sodium nitrite, a substance other than its chemical cousin, sodium. nitrate – in concentrations above 6.25%, although other enterprises offered a chemical with a purity of up to 98%.

An Amazon spokesperson told The Post on Friday that the company began restricting sales of highly concentrated nitrite, which is 95% pure or more, to its business customers in October 2022, though members of the general public can still buy it below 10%. purity.

But the company declined to comment on the bill proposed by Gunardes.

The spokesperson said “customer safety is a top priority” while expressing “deepest condolences to families who have lost loved ones to suicide.”

“We are committed to safe shopping and require our channel partners to comply with all applicable laws and regulations when listing items in our store,” a spokesperson said before adding, “High concentration sodium nitrite is not intended for direct consumption, and, to Unfortunately, like many products, it can be abused.”