Pharmaceutical (USP) vs industrial and aquarium methylene blue
Every row cites its source. Where a cell reflects our own reading of the evidence rather than an external source, the row says so.
| Dimension | Pharmaceutical | Industrial | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is sold as | Prescription injection (ProvayBlue, USP) and licensed-pharmacy compounded preparations | Dye and aquaculture products under names like basic blue 9 and C.I. 52015 | source |
| Regulatory review | FDA-approved product with a full label (boxed warning, contraindications, PK) | None; not an FDA-approved drug in any form | source |
| Purity standard | USP monograph; azure B documented and controlled as a minor impurity in the drug product | No drug-grade purity specification applies | source |
| What human trials used | The randomized cognition trial used USP pharmaceutical-grade material from a licensed compounding pharmacy | No human trial uses industrial or aquarium material | source |
| What this site can verify | Label, approval record, and USP designation are all public and cited here | Contaminant content of specific products cannot be verified from primary sources; no claims are made about it | source |
The purity question, answered with what can and cannot be verified. This site makes no claims about the contents of any specific non-drug product; the verifiable difference is the control framework.