Methamphetamine manufacturing may take a hit thanks to a new discovery by two Iowa State University chemists. George Kraus and John Verkade are chemistry professors that were asked to research a way to lower meth production. Verkade, a graduate of the University of Illinois, found the solution by adding calcium nitrate to anhydrous ammonia.

“Well, we felt pretty excited of course. Actually we found two compounds that would work. One of them was ammonium nitrate, the other was calcium nitrate, but the ammonium nitrate corrodes the tank.”

Anhydrous ammonia is a common fertilizer used by farmers and an essential chemical used to make meth. The addition of calcium nitrate would reduce meth production to two percent or less. The cost of adding the calcium nitrate would be about twenty four dollars per tank per season.